Turkiye is reportedly seeking entry into a mutual defence agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, potentially paving the way for a new security alignment that could shift the balance of power in the Middle East and beyond, Bloomberg reported on Friday.<\/p>\n
Citing people familiar with the matter, who spoke anonymously, Bloomberg reported that the talks are at an advanced stage and \u201ca deal is very likely\u201d.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had signed a \u201cStrategic Mutual Defence Agreement\u201d in Riyadh last September, pledging that any attack on either nation would be treated as an act of aggression against both.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe expanded alliance would make sense because Turkiye\u2019s interests increasingly overlap with those of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in South Asia, the Middle East and even Africa,\u201d the Bloomberg report said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTurkiye also sees the pact as a way of strengthening security and deterrents when there are questions over the reliability of the US, which has strong military ties with all three countries, and President Donald Trump\u2019s commitment to Nato,\u201c it added.<\/p>\n
The report noted Riyadh\u2019s financial clout and Islamabad\u2019s nuclear capability, ballistic missiles, and manpower, with Turkiye offering military experience and a developed defence industry, according to Nihat Ali Ozcan, a strategist with the Ankara-based think tank TEPAV.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the US prioritises its own interests and that of Israel in the region, changing dynamics and fallout from regional conflicts are prompting countries to develop new mechanisms to identify friends and foes,\u201d Ozcan was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
The information ministry and Turkiye\u2019s defence ministry declined to comment. Saudi Arabian authorities weren\u2019t immediately available to respond to a request for comment to the American publication.<\/p>\n
New era
\nAccording to Bloomberg, Turkiye joining the alliance would underscore a new era in relations with Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter turning the page on years of rancour, the countries are working to develop economic and defence cooperation,\u201d the report read. \u201cThey held their first-ever naval meeting in Ankara this week, according to the Turkish defence ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report noted Riyadh and Ankara\u2019s longstanding concern over Tehran and their preference for engagement with the country rather than the use of force.<\/p>\n
With regard to Pakistan, Bloomberg noted Turkiye\u2019s construction of corvette warships f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turkiye is reportedly seeking entry into a mutual defence agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, potentially paving the way for a new security alignment that could shift the balance of power in the Middle East and beyond, Bloomberg reported on Friday. Citing people familiar with the matter, who spoke anonymously, Bloomberg reported that the talks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15092"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15094,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15092\/revisions\/15094"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}