Muslim nations consider expanding Mecca defense pact as Turkish foreign minister targets Netanyahu

Pakistan and Turkey said on Monday that several other Muslim-majority countries are interested in joining the recently announced Mecca Joint Defense Agreement (MJDA), as the three founding members met in Istanbul to discuss expanding military cooperation.

Foreign ministers and senior military officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey attended the first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee established under the agreement. The three countries also established a joint secretariat, which will be hosted in Saudi Arabia and led by Pakistan for the first three years.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the three countries are working on a framework that would make it easier for other nations to join the agreement.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan echoed those remarks, saying the alliance was intended to expand.

“The alliance was established with the intention of expansion,” Fidan said at a press conference following the meeting. Fidan had previously suggested that Egypt could soon join the agreement. 

Fidan said the member states were establishing a “mutual alliance” to address regional challenges and would remain open to additional members.

He also directly compared the agreement to Article 5 of the NATO alliance, which establishes the principle of collective defense, under which an armed attack against one member is considered an attack against all.

“The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement is based on the principle of defense and complements the NATO alliance,” Fidan continued. Adding that the pact does not eliminate Turkey's other alliance obligations, including to NATO, but “complements” them. 

The meeting in Istanbul will also discuss strengthening defense capabilities, improving interoperability between the countries’ armed forces, and deepening defense cooperation, Turkish sources told Al-Arabiya. This may also include joint development and production of weapons systems. 

Bangladesh is among the countries reportedly interested in joining the agreement, despite its history with Pakistan, of which it was formerly a part.

Unlike Pakistan, which has had frequent flare-ups with India over disputed border territories, Bangladesh has largely held good relations with India. Those relations have been strained since 2024, when a student-led uprising toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was regarded as a close partner of New Delhi.

An attempt to join the MJDA could be seen as Bangladesh further shifting its alignment towards Pakistan and away from India. 

However, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that the MJDA is “fundamentally defensive” and is not aimed at any particular state.

“It is neither directed against any state nor intended to create any confrontation or division,” Sharif said on Tuesday. 

Fidan made a similar statement following Monday’s meeting.

“Our alliance is a defensive alliance based on international law and is not directed against any country,” Fidan said.

That assessment is not shared in Israel, where defense officials and military analysts have been closely watching developments related to the agreement, especially as tensions between Israel and Turkey have increased over Turkey’s military presence in Syria, and its efforts to expand its maritime influence in the Mediterranean and Gulf of Aden.

Israel and Greece recently announced a €3 billion ($US 3.48 billion) integrated air and missile defense agreement, largely seen as improving Greece’s ability to counter a future Turkish threat. 

Fidan, like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has increasingly used inflammatory rhetoric towards Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he recently called  “humanity's common enemy.” 

In statements at the meeting, Fidan called for the international system to “fight the Netanyahu threat."

“Netanyahu, the genocidal figure who has become a common enemy of humanity, the international community, and security, is not a person to be taken seriously,” he said in remarks at the MJDA meeting in Istanbul. 

Fidan accused Netanyahu of taking “pleasure in the spilling of the blood of Palestinians and Muslims,” and called Israel “a major threat to the entire region and the international community.”

Israeli analysts said delivering the remarks at the MJDA meeting, rather than a political rally, indicated an effort to link the emerging alliance to Turkey’s anti-Israel stance.