Erdogan eyes expansion of regional defence pact

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he hoped more countries would join a defence agreement signed last week between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed on Friday.

"Our vision for it is not limited to the three countries," the Turkish leader told Asharq Al-Awsat. "Rather we aspire for it to grow, and perhaps appropriate conditions will emerge one day for all countries of the region to gather under its umbrella." 

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday said Turkey expected Egypt to join the pact "in the next stage", telling the Anadolu state news agency only "a few technical issues" stood in the way. 

Egypt has not commented on the agreement nor on the remarks by Fidan, who will visit Cairo on Thursday and Friday. 

Cairo has robust military cooperation with Ankara, but has given no indication it intends to sign up to the new security alliance, which contains a NATO-style clause saying any attack on one would be seen as an attack on all. 

Middle East Eye reported on Tuesday, based on senior Saudi sources, that Riyadh opposed Egypt joining the security pact despite Ankara's push for Cairo to be included.

Erdogan said the pact emerged out of the "new circumstances" in the Middle East with regional players seeking to assume greater responsibility for their own security and stability. 

"Regional issues should be resolved by regional actors, and with this action, we consider that we have taken a first step toward achieving that goal," he said. 

"Resolving regional issues must be carried out away from formulas imposed from the outside. We know very well that solutions imported from abroad only bring disasters," he told the Saudi-owned newspaper.