Senior officials from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan gathered in Istanbul on Monday for the first meeting of the newly established Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, as several additional Muslim-majority countries reportedly consider joining the alliance.

The defense pact was signed on August 7 by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Under the agreement, an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all three, creating a collective-defense mechanism similar to NATO’s Article 5.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said over the weekend that six or seven Muslim-majority countries have already expressed interest in joining the pact, although he did not identify them. Officials are now developing a framework that would make it easier for additional countries to enter the alliance.

Bangladesh is among the latest countries to signal interest, while Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said the pact could eventually expand to include other regional powers such as Egypt.

Following Monday’s meeting, Fidan described the alliance as complementary to NATO rather than a competitor to the Western military alliance. Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest military, has repeatedly stressed that the new pact is not intended to replace its existing alliances.

Fidan said officials have begun taking practical steps toward building a regional security structure and are developing a roadmap for admitting additional members.

The alliance brings together three major Sunni Muslim countries and U.S. allies at a time of heightened instability across the Middle East, including the ongoing war with Iran and Iranian missile attacks targeting Gulf states.

Fidan also used the meeting to launch a blistering attack against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of prolonging regional conflicts and calling on the international community to confront Israel’s policies.

The new alliance combines Turkey’s large conventional military, nuclear-armed Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest oil exporters. President Trump has previously praised the agreement, describing it as a positive step allowing countries to strengthen their own defenses.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)