SAUDI ARABIA LISTS HELP NEEDED UNDER MECCA PACT
Saudi Arabia has sent Ankara a list of the assistance it wants to defend against Houthi attacks in Yemen under the Mecca Defense Agreement.
Analysis
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Saudi Arabia has sent Ankara a list of the assistance it wants to defend against Houthi attacks in Yemen under the Mecca Defense Agreement.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, declined President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s invitation to attend the summit of the Organization of Turkic States, scheduled for the day after Turkey’s Republic Day, marking one of the biggest crises in the two countries' close relationship. Despite Ankara’s visible steps to defuse the recent tension, his refusal to come on a date carrying symbolic importance for Turkey attests to the changing dynamics in the relationship since the military victory over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.
Azerbaijan has welcomed the United Arab Emirates’ candidate for UN secretary-general just as Ankara prepares to put forward its own. Then, President Ilham Aliyev decided to skip the Organization of Turkic States summit in Ankara on Oct. 30.
Just as the ink was drying on the Mecca Pact, the deployment of troops is now on the table, following Houthi attacks targeting Saudi Arabia.
As Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia intensify, Turkey is preparing to provide technical military support to its ally in the Mecca Pact.
The Mecca Joint defense Agreement signed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan at the beginning of last month came as a surprise to many, although Turkey was interested in joining the defense agreement signed by the latter two a year ago. The new agreement goes further than defense cooperation due to a collective security pledge modelled on NATO’s famous Article 5.
Soon after Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan announceda mutual defence pact, the Houthis stepped up their attacks, testing the new alliance.
Hafize Gaye Erkan, who served for less than a year as Turkey’s first woman central bank governor, is under legal attack from neighbors in a luxury Bodrum resort who say she has made their lives unbearable.
Turkey is putting its defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan into effect before securing necessary approval from parliament.
Montenegro announced that citizens of Turkey, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Belarus will be subject to a new visa requirement as part of the country's accession with the European Union (EU).
Amid renewed calls for unity during the ongoing peace efforts with the PKK, and following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent emphasis on solidarity among Turks, Kurds, and Arabs, MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli has confirmed reports that he proposed appointing two vice presidents—one Kurdish and one Alevi—in a closed-door party meeting.
Furkan Karabay, 29, is a journalist and has been detained three times in the past two years. On the 201st day of his latest imprisonment, he was sentenced but released. He refused to present a defense, tearing up the indictment in the courtroom.