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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MECCA PACT ACTIVATED AT BREAKNECK SPEED
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.
LIMITED SUPPORT TO SAUDI ARABIA AS HOUTHI ATTACKS INTENSIFY
As Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia intensify, Turkey is preparing to provide technical military support to its ally in the Mecca Pact.
THE MECCA TRAP: WHY TURKEY'S NEW PACT BETRAYS ITS OWN INTERESTS
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.
ANKARA'S NEW ALLIANCE FACES ITS FIRST TEST
Soon after Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan announceda mutual defence pact, the Houthis stepped up their attacks, testing the new alliance.
MECCA PACT IN PRACTICE WITHOUT PARLIAMENTARY APPROVAL
Turkey is putting its defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan into effect before securing necessary approval from parliament.
MONTENEGRO ENDS VISA-FREE TRAVEL FOR TURKISH CITIZENS
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).
TURKEY’S SYRIA DILEMMA
Turkey and the U.S. were the key backers of HTS - a former offshoot of ISIS turned Western ally - in its surprise victory over the Bashar Al-Assad regime in December. Ankara hoped this would give it a role in rebuilding Syria under the HTS and also help eliminate the PYD/YPG threat in north-eastern Syria. However, neither goal materialized. Only seven months after the power change in Damascus, it is not Turkey, but Israel, followed by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia that are now influential in Syria. Although Turkey remains dominant in the occupied northern strips of Syria, it failed to establish new bases, let alone an airbase in mid-Syria, because of Israel’s opposition.
ERDOĞAN REAPS BENEFITS OF HIS GOOD TIES WITH TRUMP
The most important foreign policy development of this week was incontestably U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Syria during his visit to Saudi Arabia.
SYRIA’S NEW LEADER PAYS LOW-KEY VISIT TO TURKEY
When Syria’s new foreign minister chose to go to Saudi Arabia and Qatar for his first international visits before coming to Turkey, the main opposition party criticized the government, asking why Asaad al-Shaibani did not choose to reciprocate the visits of the Turkish foreign minister who went to Damascus two weeks after the fall of the Assad regime. For experts, this was only natural since Syria is first and foremost an Arab country and prioritizing relations with Turkey would have caused irritation among Arab capitals. In addition, while Turkey is struggling with its own economic hardships, Syria’s new rulers need Gulf money to get the country on its feet.