Türkiye’s parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee has approved the defence agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, advancing its domestic ratification. Deputy Foreign Minister Levent Gümrükçü said military assistance requires a request and assessment, and foreign deployments remain subject to the constitution. The full parliament still has to consider the bill, while opposition lawmakers question its obligations.
Geopolitics··Midday
Committee approval opens the next parliamentary stage
Türkiye’s parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill ratifying the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on 27 October. Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed the agreement on 7 August; the other two countries have completed their domestic approval procedures. In Türkiye, the bill still requires consideration by the full parliament. Committee members questioned the government about military assistance, deployments abroad and the conditions for admitting additional countries.[1], [2]
The proposal had been submitted to parliament on 20 October after opposition criticism of the delay since the August signature. The governing Justice and Development Party and Nationalist Movement Party, together with the opposition Republican People’s Party, voted in favour at committee. Representatives of other opposition parties voted against it.[1], [2]
Military assistance requires a request and assessment
Deputy Foreign Minister Levent Gümrükçü told lawmakers that aid to a member would require a request from that country followed by an objective assessment. He said no military deployment was envisaged under the agreement at that stage. Sending Turkish troops abroad remained subject to article 92 of the constitution, he added. Answering questions about Pakistan’s nuclear capability, Gümrükçü said the agreement contained no provision concerning nuclear weapons.[1]
Lawmakers also asked why the agreement had a 10-year duration. Gümrükçü referred to the Montreux Convention and the NATO treaty in discussing duration clauses. On the pact’s security scope, he said threats were defined in general terms and that it identified no explicit common enemy.[1]
New members need the existing parties’ approval
Gümrükçü said any new member needed the agreement of all three existing parties and parliamentary approval in Türkiye. Committee chair Fuat Oktay defended the pact as a way to strengthen regional deterrence and peace. Opposition lawmakers questioned the scope of its obligations and the risk of involvement in Yemen’s conflict. They also challenged the absence of an assessment from the National Defence Committee; Oktay said he had sought its work and a report but received a negative response.[1]
Among those challenging the pact, İYİ Party lawmaker Metin Ergun asked what security shortfall it was intended to address and what need Türkiye was filling for the other countries. CHP lawmaker Oğuz Kaan Salıcı criticised the National Defence Committee’s failure to express an opinion on a defence agreement. Oktay said countries sharing the parties’ regional peace and stability objectives could seek membership.[1]
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