The Turkish authorities have stated that its new defence agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan does not conflict with the country’s obligations to NATO.
“The agreement does not conflict with Turkey’s obligations to existing international alliances, including those underpinning NATO,” the Turkish government’s disinformation counter-measures unit wrote on social media platform X on 7 August.
The unit stated that it was responding to “baseless claims and manipulative posts” criticising the new agreement. The statement noted that the agreement serves as an additional mechanism to support regional security and “is not an alternative to its NATO membership”.
On 7 August, the leaders of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan gathered in the Saudi city of Mecca to sign a joint defence pact aimed at strengthening “collective deterrence against any act of aggression”.
This event took place against a backdrop of growing uncertainty in the Middle East and continued tensions between Tehran and Washington.