Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has responded to the criticism of the Makkah Defense Agreement and said that it is not appropriate to call the newly established defense alliance a failure on the basis of the long crisis in Yemen, because we have just started.
Haqan Fidan was asked in the panel titled ‘Turkey-US relations: in the centenary era’ in New York that the attacks of the Houthis on Saudi Arabia in Yemen is not the first test of the Makkah defense agreement and how has this agreement performed in this test?
The Turkish Foreign Minister responded by pointing to the former US Ambassador to Ankara James Jeffrey in the hall and asked him when he joined the army, Jeffrey said that he had joined the army for about 50 years.
On this, Haqan Fidan asked how many times NATO’s Article 5 was seen to be activated during this period? came the reply from the hall, only once.
The Turkish Foreign Minister said that it is not fair at all, no one criticizes NATO as a ‘paper lion’, but when there is a newly established defense alliance, the 10-year crisis, the crisis in Yemen, is said to be an example, it is not working.
The Makkah Defense Agreement marks the beginning of regional cooperation
The Turkish Foreign Minister said regarding the Makkah Defense Agreement that its purpose is to strengthen mutual cooperation and respect for each other’s security, sovereignty and territorial integrity among the countries of the region.
He said that there is a road map between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in this regard and after institutionalizing the agreement, the doors will be open for other countries to join it.
According to Haqan Fidan, the Makkah Defense Agreement was being considered for the last 5 to 6 years, but it took time to persuade the concerned countries.
He said that the countries of the region have understood the importance of regional cooperation and solidarity.
Haqan Fidan’s example from NATO
In his response, the Turkish foreign minister basically pointed out that even a long-standing defense alliance like NATO has only had Article 5 formally activated once in its history, so it is not a fair standard to expect a new defense arrangement to immediately resolve every regional crisis.
The above discussion took place during a panel held in New York, in which besides Turkey-US relations, global and regional security, defense cooperation and various international crises were also discussed.