Turkey in talks to join Pak-Saudi defence pact; Nato member eyeing Islamic Nato?

Turkey has evinced interest in joining the defence alliance between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg reported, quoting sources. As per the deal signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in 2025, any "any aggression" against one country is to be considered an attack on all.

The discussions were at an advanced stage and a deal was very likely, Bloomberg reported last week.

Ankara's joining the bilateral defence agreement would pave the way for a "new security alignment that could shift the balance of power in the Middle East and beyond", the Bloomberg report said.

Turkey, which has sided with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, helped the Islamic republic during the four-day mini-war against India in May 2025. It not only provided over 350 military drones to Pakistan but also with operators.

Pakistan used Turkish Bayraktar TB2 and YIHA drones against India in the May mini. Turkey's defence collaboration with Pakistan has grown at a fast pace in recent years.

Turkey is helping in the construction of corvette warships for Pakistan and in upgrading its fleet of F-16 fighter jets. Ankara hasn't just supplied critical military hardware to Islamabad, but has also trained Pakistani personnel.

Nihat Ali Ozcan, a strategist with Ankara-based think tank TEPAV, told Bloomberg that Turkey has military experience and a developed defence industry, while Pakistan has nuclear capability and ballistic missiles, and Saudi Arabia adds the financial clout.

Turkey is part of the US-led Nato, but might be looking for additional defence blocs even as US President Donald Trump downgrades the military grouping's present significance. Ankara, after Washington, has the second-biggest armed force in the multi-national military grouping.

"As the US prioritises its own interests and that of Israel in the region, changing dynamics and fallout from regional conflicts are prompting countries to develop new mechanisms to identify friends and foes," Ozcan told Bloomberg.

The Bloomberg report was based on information from "people familiar with the matter", and Turkey's Defense Ministry declined to comment, while Pakistan's Information Ministry didn't respond to its request for a remark. Saudi authorities, Bloomberg said, weren't available for comments.

"The expanded alliance would make sense because Turkiye's interests increasingly overlap with those of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in South Asia, the Middle East and even Africa," the report said.

In September 2025, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement during Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's visit to Doha. The agreement, whose details haven't emerged yet, allows Pakistan's nuclear arsenal to be considered in the defence of Saudi Arabia if required, according to reports.

HOW TURKEY AIDS PAKISTAN MILITARILY?

Turfew kish military assistance to Pakistan has increased significantly in the last couple of years.

Turkish shipbuilders are currently assisting Pakistani shipbuilders in building two Babur-class frigates, a variant of their own MILGEM-class corvette, for the Pakistani Navy, along with delivering two more ships of the same class, PNS Babur and PNS Khaiber, that were made in Turkey.

Turkey is also conducting a midlife refit of 42 Pakistan Air Force F-16s to extend their lifespan to 12,000 hours through its Turkish Aerospace Industries. Pakistan's imports from Turkey of arms and ammunition, parts and accessories stood at $5.16 million in 2024, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.

The most significant military assistance provided to Pakistan has been in the form of drones, including the Bayraktar series. According to an India Today Digital report, during Operation Sindoor, Turkey supplied Pakistan with more than 350 drones and loitering munitions, along with trained operatives to assist in attacks on Indian soil. Two of the Turkish operatives were killed, sources told India Today TV in May 2025.

Prior to Operation Sindoor, Ankara had dispatched a warship to make a port call at Karachi and sent a C-130 military transport aircraft to Pakistan. Turkey is also in talks with Islamabad to set up a production line to manufacture drones and loitering munitions such as the Bayraktar TB2, in Pakistan.

WHAT ARE IMPLICATIONS OF TURKEY JOINING ALLIANCE WITH PAKISTAN, SAUDI ARABIA?

If Turkey formally joins the alliance, it would signal a reset in relations with Saudi Arabia after years of rivalry for leadership of the Sunni Muslim world. Having moved past a period of tension, the two countries are now expanding economic and defence cooperation, including their first-ever naval meeting held in Ankara this week, according to Turkey's Defence Ministry.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia also share longstanding concerns about Shiite-led Iran, though both favour engagement over confrontation. They back a stable, Sunni-led government in Syria and support Palestinian statehood.

Beyond regional calculations, Turkey's potential entry into the alliance could complicate existing geopolitical equations involving the US, NATO and Iran, while also drawing closer scrutiny from India.

A trilateral security framework linking a NATO member, a nuclear-armed state and the custodian of Islam's holiest sites would mark a rare convergence of military capability, strategic geography and financial power. It would potentially reshape security partnerships across West Asia, South Asia and parts of Africa.

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