Mecca defence pact text reveals 10-year exit restriction as Houthis test alliance

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey can leave the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement only after 10 years from its entry into force, according to the full text of the 16-article pact published by Turkiye Today ahead of its consideration by the Turkish parliament.

The pact’s collective defence pledge, which treats an armed attack on one member as an attack on all, was already public. The newly disclosed text spells out when members can leave and how they must assist an attacked ally.

“Any ‘Party’ may withdraw from this Agreement after 10



years have elapsed from its entry into force,” Article 16 states. Members must give at least three months’ written notice through diplomatic channels, Turkiye Today reported.

The pact has no fixed expiry date. It enters into force when the final instrument of ratification is deposited with the alliance’s secretariat. The 10-year period therefore begins from that date rather than its signing.

The details emerged in Turkish media as Ankara submitted the agreement to parliament for ratification on Tuesday, Reuters reported.