Chatham House
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Talk of a Turkish military alliance with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan reflects Ankara’s opportunistic ‘hedging’ strategy
EXPERT COMMENT
An alliance with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan would not make NATO member Turkey better defended. But it would provide other advantages.
On 9 January, Bloomberg reported that Turkey was ‘likely’ to join the defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and that talks to do so were in an ‘advanced’ stage. Later that month Pakistan’s Minister for Defence Production told Reuters that a draft defence deal between the three countries had been prepared.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan agreed a defensive pact in September 2025, following American inaction on two occasions: initially in 2019, when Iranian drone attacks on Saudi Arabia failed to elicit more than mild condemnation from Washington; and in 2025, when Israel’s attacks on Qatar were met only with lukewarm rebuke.
The potential inclusion of Turkey into the alliance has received mixed reactions from Turkish commentators. Some interpret the anonymous briefing as more of a messaging strategy than concrete statement of intent. It remains to be seen whether the alliance will come to pass.
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Original article link: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2026/01/talk-turkish-military-alliance-saudi-arabia-and-pakistan-reflects-ankaras-opportunistic
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