DM Monitoring
ANKARA: Turkiye will submit to parliament a mandate allowing for military personnel to be deployed to Saudi Arabia under its joint defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, a lawmaker from the ruling AK Party told Reuters on Wednesday.
The lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the mandate would be sent to parliament once a bill ratifying the accord has been approved.
Turkiye submitted the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement — signed by the three countries in August — to parliament for ratification on Tuesday, moving Nato’s second-largest army closer to a formal mutual defence pledge with Riyadh as it faces Houthi attacks.
The AKP lawmaker said that no Turkish troops deployed to other countries under the pact would take part in offensive operations, adding that technical personnel and experts would be sent initially to help with air defences, electronic warfare technologies, and other defensive support.
Earlier, two officials had told Reuters that Turkiye’s contribution was expected to be limited to military equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems, adding that no other form of deployment had taken place under the alliance so far.
Turkiye, which has condemned the Houthi attacks, has also agreed to join a Saudi-led coalition to ensure navigational safety in the Red Sea.
On the other hand, Two people were killed and two others injured after Saudi air defences intercepted a drone attempting to target a facility at the Shaybah oilfield in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, the state news agency reported on Wednesday, citing an Energy Ministry official.
The two people killed were residents of Filipino and Nepali nationality, while the injured were Pakistani and Indian residents, Saudi newspaper Al Riyadh reported, citing the ministry source.
The interception caused debris to fall, setting fire to a vehicle belonging to a contractor working at the oilfield. The vehicle was outside the facility’s perimeter, and the incident had no impact on operations, the official said.
The relevant authorities responded to the incident and took the necessary measures, according to the report.
Shaybah, operated by state oil giant Saudi Aramco, is a major oilfield in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, near the border with the United Arab Emirates. It is located in the Rub al-Khali, or Empty Quarter, desert.
The incident comes amid heightened regional tensions and a renewed wave of attacks and attempted attacks involving Saudi energy infrastructure and other targets.
Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed attacks on Saudi energy and airport facilities earlier this week, but the claims had not been independently verified by Reuters. The group denied on Wednesday launching drones towards Medina or conducting military operations against Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi authorities’ account of Wednesday’s incident did not identify those responsible for the drone attempt.
