Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan defended the Mecca alliance against criticism that the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia were its "first test".

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan defended the Mecca alliance against criticism that the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia were its "first test".

Piden compared it to NATO, asking former US ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey how many times NATO's Article 5 had been invoked. After Jeffrey replied "only once," Piden said it was unfair to judge a new defense alliance using a 10-year conflict as evidence that it doesn't work.

"No one criticizes NATO as a paper tiger. But when it comes to a fledgling defense alliance, they point to a 10-year crisis in Yemen and say, 'Look, it's not working.' We just started."