Defense: Turkey wants to expand new "Mekka Defense Pact"
Turkey has forged a defence pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The country wants to involve even more countries in the future. NATO serves as a model.
According to the Turkish government, the newly established defense alliance with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia should be expanded to include additional countries. This is the express wish of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told the state news agency Anadolu. "Under our president's vision, we should not limit ourselves to three countries.
We should grow and, if necessary, bring all countries under this umbrella." Several states have already expressed interest - and he believes that Egypt will join in the long term, once "some technical hurdles" have been overcome. Turkey has good relations with almost all countries in the region, Fidan emphasized. But without an institutional framework, this can change again at any time.
The "historic" agreement is a milestone on the way to lasting stability in a region that has been marked by instability since the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1922. New military alliance for mutual support Turkey and its neighbors must create their own institutional mechanisms to guarantee security, economic stability, development and prosperity.
"External great powers that come into the region do not solve the problems. They only make them worse, and the costs will be very high."
Translated by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report; automated translation may contain errors. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
