Middle East Monitoring Desk Islamabad
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan : ” Maritime security in the Red Sea tied to Turkey’s interests and Ankara should take part in the Saudi-led international coalition.”
He said this in his interview with Anadolu and TRT on Saturday a day after Mecca Pact was signed.
Iran was not a target of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan Saturday.
Here it is worth mentioning that security in Red Sea means to stop Houthis from strikes and blockade of Bab el Mandeb Strait where Iran is supporting the Houthis and Somalia is facing challenges after establishment of Somaliland and Israeli recognition of this new regime in this important region.
Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where Yemen-based Houthi forces target commercial shipping. This chokepoint connects the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal, forcing global cargo vessels to bypass the area and take longer routes around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
Hakan Fidan in the interview said , “No country that does not attack us is in our sights,” Fidan said in an interview with TRT, adding that the pact was technically similar to NATO’s Article 5 collective defense clause.
Reuters qouted Fidan as saying, Turkey should be involved in an international coalition to protect shipping in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks because shipping safety concerned Ankara’s interests.
The regional powers signed the “Mecca Joint Defence Agreement” on Friday, wedding Sunni Muslim U.S. allies alarmed at a regional conflagration that has brought Iranian missile fire onto Gulf oil exporters.
In a joint statement, they said the accord intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all.
Speaking to the state-run Anadolu news agency, Fidan said the new alliance was not directed against Iran or any other country, but rather served as a general pledge to support the three allies’ security.
He added that the allies would decide through consultations what degree, form, and format of support they would ask for in the event of an attack, but that no country would be considered a threat as long as a member state is not attacked.
“NATO is a giant military alliance where there are 32 countries. We have started here as three countries and we have to take very humble but concrete steps,” he said, adding efforts to finalise the pact had been underway for two years and eight months.
He added that a committee of ministers similar to that within NATO would be formed as part of the alliance, as well as a general secretariat based in Saudi Arabia, but that operational details would be set at the first committee meeting.
In recent months, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt formed a group to address regional issues, namely the war on Iran. Turkey has said the group – dubbed the R4 – aims to solidify its partnership through concrete mechanisms.
