Why does Turkey want to form a defense alliance with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia?

 

Why does Turkey want to form a defense alliance with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia?

 

Defense experts say that Turkey and Pakistan are already cooperating on defense.

Defense expert Dr. Hassan Askari Rizvi says that Turkey, while being in Europe, also has interests in the Middle East and Arab countries.

Dr. Rizvi said that Saudi Arabia is a major power in the Middle East and although Pakistan is not in this region, its defense agreement with Saudi Arabia has increased Pakistan’s importance in this region as well.

According to him, Turkey also wants to ‘work together with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East’s turmoil and regional issues.’

Mehmet Çelik, a journalist associated with the Turkish newspaper ‘Daily Sabah’, says that Turkey is keen to join or expand the defense agreement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Mehmet Çelik was present at the Turkish Foreign Minister’s news conference.

He said, “Turkey believes that if Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey or Egypt come on the same platform, many problems in the region can be solved.”

He said, “Turkey believes that most of the problems in the region are due to distrust between regional powers and if this distrust is eliminated, 80 percent of the problems in the region can be solved.”

Mehmet Çelik says, “The combination of Pakistan’s nuclear power, Saudi Arabia’s economic power and Turkey’s military and diplomatic influence in the region can be a deterrent factor and lead to stability in the region.”

He said that Turkey wants to join this agreement, but there has been no further progress on it at present.

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Could Saudi Arabia object to Turkey’s involvement?

In recent years, relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia have improved somewhat after years of frost.

Relations between the two countries deteriorated after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. At the time, Erdogan targeted the Saudi crown prince over the issue.

During the same period, the Saudi government also tried to prevent its citizens from traveling to Turkey and using goods made there.

In December 2019, Turkey’s exports to Saudi Arabia fell from 1.02 billion riyals to 506 million riyals. But two years ago, relations between the two countries gradually improved.

To a question about the past relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Hassan Askari said, “These issues have been between different countries in the Middle East, but the political landscape that has been emerging for the past year has changed the direction of politics, and now the uncertain situation in Yemen, Syria, and to some extent Iraq and then Afghanistan has forced these countries to find ways of mutual cooperation.”

According to him, there will be discussions about what kind of cooperation this cooperation will be. In his opinion, no decision has been made yet, but the three countries are definitely thinking about moving forward in this direction.

In Dr. Hassan Askari’s opinion, “The Palestine-Israel war has also brought these countries closer and Turkey wants to emerge as an active player in the region.”

In response to a question, he said that Islamic countries cannot work as a bloc, but some countries can definitely increase cooperation with each other.

Mehmet Celik also believes that this period of tension between Saudi Arabia and Turkey has ended and that the two countries are now looking for new ways of cooperation.

According to him, ‘both countries are aware of how they can deal with the challenges arising from what is happening in the region.’ In his opinion, there is a similarity in the positions of the two countries on the problems and issues of the region. In his opinion, Saudi Arabia may now have no objection to Turkey’s participation in this alliance.

How can Turkey make this deal more effective?

There was a time when Turkey was considered a buyer of arms in the world, but now, with the development of Turkey's defense equipment industry, Turkey is emerging as a seller of arms.

In recent years, Turkish-made defense equipment has played a 'game changer' during various conflicts and has gained considerable international attention.

Turkish-made combat drones have played an important role during the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Libya and other countries.

Turkish officials say that they meet 80 percent of their defense needs domestically. This is why Turkey buys fewer weapons than other countries in the world.

Five Turkish defense equipment manufacturers are among the top 100 companies in the world that manufacture weapons and provide military services.

The Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SPRI) has released a ranking of the top 100 defense equipment and military services companies in 2024.

In this ranking based on revenue, Turkish company Eselsen is 52nd, Baykar is 66th and Turkish Aerospace Industries is 75th on the list.

The Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation is 93rd in this ranking.

The inclusion of Turkish companies in this latest SPRI ranking shows that Turkey's defense industry is expanding and Turkey's influence in the global arms trade is increasing

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to smooth public opinion in his favor by self-sufficiency in the defense sector.

State media say that the development of the defense sector reflects Turkey's growing influence internationally.

Mehmet Celik says that Turkey, as the second largest army in NATO, can play an important role in this alliance.

In his opinion, Saudi Arabia also believes that by working with Turkey, many issues can be advanced in the Middle East, which will benefit both countries.

According to Dr. Hassan Askari, Turkey has achieved considerable success in defense production and “Turkey now wants to take this industry further.” He believes that they can bring about change in the region by working with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

‘Defense production and exercises’?

In Forbes, Güne Yıldız, while expressing his opinion on the same issue, has written that this development should not be seen as an attempt by Turkey to distance itself from NATO.

He writes that ‘If Turkey joins this alliance, everything will happen gradually, not in a sudden dramatic way. According to him, initially, joint defense production, military exercises and access to each other’s ports can be quietly agreed upon.’

According to him, ‘Pakistan brings something to this defense agreement that few countries have, namely a strong security capability, including nuclear capability. According to him, Saudi Arabia signed a defense agreement with Pakistan for the same reason, and although nuclear capability is not given to anyone, the impression is enough.

On the other hand, according to him, "If Turkey joins this alliance, it will be a NATO member country that not only has the second largest army in the alliance, but also has a strategic position and defense production capacity."

According to him, "Pakistan will clearly be interested in the economic aspect of this agreement because a defense agreement is also a commercial agreement that will include joint production and weapons."