Türkiye completes preparations to submit Mecca defense pact to parliament: Foreign minister

Türkiye has completed preparations to submit the Mecca defense agreement to parliament for approval, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday, stressing that the pact is defensive in nature and does not authorize attacks on other countries.

“The necessary work for the agreement to be submitted to parliament has been completed,” Fidan said at a joint news conference in Ankara with Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Anita Orban.

Fidan said the agreement provides for mutual defense if one of its signatories comes under attack.

“Once a country that is party to the agreement is attacked, you stand by it for its defense. This is not an attack agreement,” he said.

He also clarified that the pact does not authorize Türkiye to deploy troops to another country’s territory to carry out an attack.

Turning to the Russia-Ukraine war, Fidan warned against allowing the conflict to expand into the Black Sea.

“We must never allow the Black Sea to turn into a new front of conflict,” he said.