![Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (R) sign a trilateral joint defense agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on August 7, 2026. [TUR Presidency /Murat Cetinmuhurdar - Anadolu Agency]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/AA-20260807-42161814-42161813-TURKIYE_SAUDI_ARABIA_AND_PAKISTAN_SIGN_TRILATERAL_JOINT_DEFENSE_AGREEMENT.jpg)
The Middle East is entering another dangerous phase, and this time the test isn’t hypothetical anymore. Yemen’s Houthis have just made their biggest advance in years down the Red Sea coast, seizing the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands near Bab el-Mandeb and pushing toward Mokha — reigniting a civil war that’s now well into its second decade. In the process, they’ve handed the newly signed Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye its first real test, barely a month after the ink dried. The pact was signed at Al-Safa Palace on August 7, 2026, by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Its central clause is blunt: an […]
