Turkish FM Affirms Defense Pact With Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Is Same As NATO's Article 5

World leaders have been reacting to the Friday signing of a major defense agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan in the Saudi city of Makkah among their heads of state. It seeks to strengthen joint deterrence and expanding defense cooperation, the Saudi Press Agency said.

As we reported, it essentially a NATO-style agreement for the 'Muslim world' - given that it stipulates and formalizes that an armed attack on any of the countries will be treated as an attack against all of them.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has on Saturday affirmed this in very clear terms - in case there were any doubts among pundits - describing that is indeed technically the same as NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense agreement.

He told state Anadolu news agency that a committee of ministers similar to that within NATO would be formed to undergird the new alliance, with the establishment of general secretariat based in Saudi Arabia. This will be the tripartite pact's version of Brussels, it seems.

What's more is that "Egypt could potentially join the pact once certain technical matters are resolved," Fidan READ MORE AT SOURCE »