After Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye signed a mutual defence agreement, Ankara has hinted that more members could soon join the pact. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said other nations — which he did not name — have expressed interest in joining the agreement, adding that he expects Egypt, which he described as a “natural partner,” to participate “at the next stage.”

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia, nuclear power Pakistan and Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and a rapidly growing defence industry, signed the ‘Mecca agreement on Friday.

The deal stipulates that an armed attack on either of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against them all.

It was signed during a meeting in Saudi Arabia between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.

The deal comes at a time when Saudi Arabia, whose critical infrastructure and oil facilities have come under attack as part of the war in Iran, has been looking to diversify its defence partnerships amid attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The Turkish minister described the agreement’s clause on mutual defence as being “technically the same” as NATO’s Article 5, under which an attack on one of the 32 members is considered an attack on them all. He, however, said that the pact is not aimed against Iran or any other country.

In an interview with Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan insisted that the three countries do not view any particular state as an adversary unless they take hostile action against them.

“We don’t have anything written down — nothing we’ve signed — that defines a common threat,” Fidan said. “Any country that does not attack us is not a target for us.”