New Delhi: Turkey has announced that the Mecca pact’s first secretary general will be from Pakistan and the grouping will be called the Makkah Defence Alliance, with a secretariat in Riyadh.
The announcements were made Monday by Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan, after the grouping’s first Strategic Political and Defence Committee meeting in Istanbul earlier in the day. This marked their first formal gathering since the three countries signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on 7 August.
Fidan also said the three member states had agreed to begin establishing the grouping’s institutional structure, including a permanent secretariat in Riyadh.
“There is a secretariat that has been established in Riyadh, and the first secretary general will be appointed from amongst our Pakistani brothers,” he said in Turkish at a news conference after the meeting. Adding, “As of today, we have started the process of establishing the institutional structure of the alliance.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs @HakanFidan attended the first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee, established under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, in İstanbul with the participation of Yaşar Güler, Minister of National Defence and General Selçuk… pic.twitter.com/ALWrEJhzpp
— Turkish MFA (@MFATurkiye) August 31, 2026
Fidan also said that during the meeting, decisions were taken on “how and when to begin institutionalisation and all our brothers expressed views”.
“For the future of a secure, stable and prosperous region, this alliance is based on international principles such as respecting the sovereignty of other states, territorial integrity and not intervening in internal affairs,” he said.
Fidan also said the grouping would be open to other countries, although prospective members would have to meet conditions, rules and standards yet to be specified.
The alliance, he said, was not directed against any particular country. Instead, its stated principles include respect for national sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in domestic affairs. “We will closely cooperate with friendly countries, and we will continue coordinating our efforts,” Fidan added.
He suggested that the grouping was expected to expand, but cautioned that its institutional mechanisms must be made functional before new members could be incorporated. “If an ally wants to join, the alliance should be functional in a proper manner by then,” he said.
Pakistan was represented at the meeting by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, who is also the country’s chief of army and defence forces. Turkey was represented by Fidan, Defence Minister Yaşar Güler and Chief of the General Staff General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu. Saudi Arabia was represented by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and chief of staff General Fayyad bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili.
Fidan clarified that the pact also does not supersede the three countries’ existing international commitments.
The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed on 7 August, contains a mutual defence provision under which the three countries agreed to regard an armed attack against any one member as an attack against all three.
Fidan said the lack of trust and effective security arrangements among countries in the region had contributed to instability and the Makkah Defence Alliance was intended to help fill that gap while presenting itself as a framework for regional security rather than as a bloc aimed at a particular adversary.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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