Turkish authorities are preparing to ask parliament for approval to station military personnel in Saudi Arabia as part of a tripartite defense agreement with Riyadh and Pakistan, a lawmaker from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party told Reuters. The proposal will be made after parliament ratifies the Mecca Mutual Defense Agreement, signed by the three countries in August and formally presented to Turkish lawmakers on Tuesday. This step will bring NATO's second largest military closer to direct involvement in the Saudi Arabian war in Yemen. The lawmaker from the ruling party, who asked to remain anonymous, said that Turkish personnel deployed under the agreement will not participate in offensive operations. Instead, Ankara will first send military experts and technicians to assist Saudi Arabia with air defense systems, electronic warfare capabilities and other forms of defense support. Two officials previously told Reuters that Turkey's contribution is expected to focus on military equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems, and that so far no deployments have been made under this agreement. Turkey also agreed to join a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which is supposed to "ensure the security of shipping" in the Red Sea, further expanding Ankara's military cooperation with Riyadh amid ongoing operations by Yemen's armed forces against Saudi-backed forces. Ankara has condemned attacks carried out by the Houthi group, while the proposed deployment would deepen Turkey's involvement in the Saudi-led regional security architecture, although officials have insisted that Turkey's military role will remain entirely defensive.

Turkish authorities are preparing to ask parliament for approval to station military personnel in Saudi Arabia as part of a tripartite defense agreement with Riyadh and Pakistan, a lawmaker from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party told Reuters. The proposal will be made after parliament ratifies the Mecca Mutual Defense Agreement, signed by the three countries in August and formally presented to Turkish lawmakers on Tuesday. This step will bring NATO's second largest military closer to direct involvement in the Saudi Arabian war in Yemen. The lawmaker from the ruling party, who asked to remain anonymous, said that Turkish personnel deployed under the agreement will not participate in offensive operations. Instead, Ankara will first send military experts and technicians to assist Saudi Arabia with air defense systems, electronic warfare capabilities and other forms of defense support. Two officials previously told Reuters that Turkey's contribution is expected to focus on military equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems, and that so far no deployments have been made under this agreement. Turkey also agreed to join a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which is supposed to "ensure the security of shipping" in the Red Sea, further expanding Ankara's military cooperation with Riyadh amid ongoing operations by Yemen's armed forces against Saudi-backed forces. Ankara has condemned attacks carried out by the Houthi group, while the proposed deployment would deepen Turkey's involvement in the Saudi-led regional security architecture, although officials have insisted that Turkey's military role will remain entirely defensive.