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Turkey is in advanced talks to join the mutual defense pact that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan reached in September, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A pact of the three US-allied Muslim nations could potentially put Ankara under Islamabad’s nuclear umbrella.
Saudi Arabia, which does not have nuclear weapons, signed the original agreement with Pakistan — the world’s only nuclear-armed Muslim nation — in the wake of Israel’s botched September 9 strike on Hamas’s leadership in Qatar. The strike sparked alarm and outrage among Gulf nations.
Under the agreement, which did not directly address nuclear arms, an attack on one country is considered an attack against all. Turkey, which also hosts Hamas leaders, is “very likely” to join the agreement, Bloomberg said. Ankara hosts US nuclear weapons as part of its role in NATO, but does not have any of its own.
“As the US prioritizes its own interests and that of Israel in the region, changing dynamics and fallout from regional conflicts are prompting countries to develop new mechanisms to identify friends and foes,” Ankara-based analyst Nihat Ali Ozcan told Bloomberg.
Despite these concerns, Trump has close ties with Erdogan and has pushed for a greater Turkish role in the region, much to Israel’s concern. He has also indicated the US could reinstate Turkey in the advanced F-35 stealth fighter jet program, something Jerusalem strenuously opposes.
Turkey has been one of Israel’s harshest critics due to the war in Gaza, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has likened to the Holocaust.
The two countries’ relations have been further strained by developments in Syria after Turkish-backed Islamist rebels, whom Israel has remained leery of, toppled longtime Iran-backed president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
A pact of the three US-allied Muslim nations could potentially put Ankara under Islamabad’s nuclear umbrella.
Saudi Arabia, which does not have nuclear weapons, signed the original agreement with Pakistan — the world’s only nuclear-armed Muslim nation — in the wake of Israel’s botched September 9 strike on Hamas’s leadership in Qatar. The strike sparked alarm and outrage among Gulf nations.
Under the agreement, which did not directly address nuclear arms, an attack on one country is considered an attack against all. Turkey, which also hosts Hamas leaders, is “very likely” to join the agreement, Bloomberg said. Ankara hosts US nuclear weapons as part of its role in NATO, but does not have any of its own.
“As the US prioritizes its own interests and that of Israel in the region, changing dynamics and fallout from regional conflicts are prompting countries to develop new mechanisms to identify friends and foes,” Ankara-based analyst Nihat Ali Ozcan told Bloomberg.
Despite these concerns, Trump has close ties with Erdogan and has pushed for a greater Turkish role in the region, much to Israel’s concern. He has also indicated the US could reinstate Turkey in the advanced F-35 stealth fighter jet program, something Jerusalem strenuously opposes.
Turkey has been one of Israel’s harshest critics due to the war in Gaza, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has likened to the Holocaust.
The two countries’ relations have been further strained by developments in Syria after Turkish-backed Islamist rebels, whom Israel has remained leery of, toppled longtime Iran-backed president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
