President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hopes more countries will join the defence agreement signed last week between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, which contains a NATO-style mutual defence clause.
Speaking on Wednesday, Erdogan said the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed on Friday, was not limited to the three founding nations. He said he aspired for it to grow and that conditions might one day allow all countries in the region to join.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Turkey expected Egypt to join the pact in the next stage, with only "a few technical issues" standing in the way. Fidan is due to visit Cairo on Thursday and Friday, but Egypt has not commented on the agreement or on his remarks. Egypt has strong military cooperation with Turkey but has given no sign it intends to join the alliance.
Middle East Eye reported on Tuesday, citing senior Saudi sources, that Riyadh opposed Egypt's inclusion in the pact despite Ankara's push for Cairo to join.
The pact was signed as the Middle East deals with the fallout from the US-Iran war, which has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. Erdogan said the agreement emerged from the "new circumstances" in the region, with regional players wanting greater responsibility for their own security. He argued that regional issues should be resolved by regional actors, away from formulas imposed from outside, saying imported solutions only bring disasters.