Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on 31 October 2026 that Damascus was evaluating entry into the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, according to AFP's report from Manama. AFP identified Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan as the pact's three signatories, with Syria considering whether to join rather than already participating.
"Discussions are currently underway to evaluate Syria's entry into the Mecca alliance," al-Shaibani said at the Bahrain conference, according to AFP. Anadolu independently carried the same quotation and placed his remarks in the regional-security session of the International Institute for Strategic Studies Manama Dialogue.
What the collective defence commitment covers
The three governments signed the agreement in Mecca on 7 August 2026, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Levent Gumrukcu told lawmakers, according to the Turkish parliament's account. Under the pact, an attack on one signatory is treated as an attack on all three, AFP reported.
The text examined by Reuters provides for immediate assistance when a party suffers armed attack or military aggression by another country or group of countries. Reuters reported that the agreement invokes Article 51 of the UN Charter, the provision concerning individual and collective self-defence.
The commitment does not bypass national decision-making: parliamentary committee chairman Fuat Oktay said implementation respects each country's constitutional duties, domestic law and competent authorities, according to the Turkish parliament. In the Turkish parliament's account, he stressed high-level consultation and common agreement rather than mechanically automatic collective-defence measures.
Ratification differs between the three signatories
Pakistan had completed its ratification procedures and Saudi Arabia had done the same, Pakistan's Foreign Office said on 23 October, according to Anadolu. The spokesperson said, according to Anadolu, that implementation and matters concerning the agreement remained under discussion among the three parties, each following its own constitutional and legal procedures.
Gumrukcu subsequently confirmed that both countries had finished domestic approval and submitted the required official notifications, according to the Turkish parliament's 27 October account. His statement in the parliamentary account (TBMM) distinguished those completed national procedures from the parliamentary approval then being considered in Turkiye.
Turkiye's Foreign Affairs Committee approved the ratification bill on 27 October, while the parliament's bill record (TBMM), checked on 2 November, still placed it before the plenary stage rather than recording enacted legislation. The bill record (TBMM) establishes committee approval, not completion of Turkiye's entire domestic ratification process.
Evaluation does not establish Syrian membership
New membership would require the three countries' joint approval, and Turkish approval would also go before parliament, Gumrukcu said in comments reported by Euronews. His explanation, reported by Euronews, describes a separate admission decision by existing participants, beyond a prospective member's public expression of interest.
Al-Shaibani's reported statement did not announce a formal application, an invitation from the signatories or completed accession, as the wording carried by AFP makes clear. The minister, as quoted by AFP, described discussions to assess entry, without presenting an agreed outcome or a date for Syrian membership.
Al-Shaibani also called for stronger joint deterrence and defence arrangements and described Syria as integral to regional security, according to Anadolu. Anadolu's account supplied no timetable or terms for Syrian entry, so his support for regional cooperation cannot be read as an announcement that Syria now receives the pact's mutual-defence protection.