Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan activated their mutual-defense pact for the first time after Houthi strikes on the kingdom. Will Turkey's parliament authorize sending troops to Saudi Arabia by Oct 20?

Turkey's parliament had not authorized sending troops to Saudi Arabia by Oct. 20, 2026, though the government took its first formal step that day by submitting the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement itself for ratification. The pact, signed in August by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, commits the three countries to mutual defense, and was invoked for the first time after Houthi missile strikes killed people at Riyadh's main airport. A ruling AK Party official told Reuters that a separate mandate authorizing the deployment of Turkish military personnel would be submitted only after lawmakers ratify the underlying treaty, a process expected to resume once parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus returned from a trip abroad. Turkish officials described any eventual deployment as strictly defensive, saying troops would not take part in offensive operations against the Houthis. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had said on Oct. 8 that Turkey would not send forces to attack another country. The two-step process, treaty ratification followed by a separate troop mandate, left Ankara short of an actual authorization by the deadline. The community was evenly split on this one, with 50 percent predicting authorization by the deadline, reflecting genuine uncertainty over how quickly Turkey's parliament would move.