Reports: Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan Set to Sign Trilateral Defense Pact in Jeddah

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Riyadh on Friday, August 7, 2026 (16 Mordad 1405), for a one day visit to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has been in Saudi Arabia since Thursday alongside Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir for a three day visit. According to Al Jazeera, Turkish presidential communications director Burhanettin Duran said the trip would focus on bilateral relations and regional developments, without detailing a formal agenda.

Al Jazeera, citing AFP, reported that a source close to the Saudi military said the three countries were set to sign a joint defense agreement in Jeddah on Friday, while a Turkish intelligence source said the pact's foundational terms had already been agreed among the three sides. Al Jazeera said that, if confirmed, such an agreement would likely extend the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed in September 2025, which treats an attack on one as an attack on both, into a three way framework with Turkiye; however, none of the three governments had publicly confirmed the report.

Al Jazeera said the timing was significant, coming a week after Saudi Arabia unveiled a multinational maritime security coalition to protect shipping through the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden, and following months of upheaval in the Strait of Hormuz tied to the US and Israeli war on Iran.