Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan traveled to Saudi Arabia on Friday for a one-day working visit, his second to the kingdom this year. A three-way meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is on the agenda, against a backdrop of regional tensions linked to the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Ankara presented the trip as a routine working visit, but the regional context lends it particular significance. The Turkish presidential communications director, Burhanettin Duran, indicated that the discussions would focus on "bilateral relations and regional developments," without specifying a formal agenda. According to him, Erdogan will meet with both the Saudi Crown Prince and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who arrived in the kingdom on Thursday for a three-day visit, accompanied by the head of the Pakistani army, Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Regional media outlets report that the discussions will focus on maritime security, the fallout from the Iranian-American-Israeli conflict, and defense cooperation. It is precisely on this last point that speculation is rife: several sources report that the three countries could sign a formal alliance agreement in Jeddah.
A source close to the Saudi military told AFP that the three leaders were preparing to initial a joint defense agreement, while a Turkish intelligence source specified that the founding terms of the pact had already been agreed upon by the three parties. If confirmed, this agreement would extend to Turkey the framework of the strategic mutual defense treaty signed between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in September 2025, which stipulates that an attack against one is tantamount to an attack against the other. None of the three governments has publicly confirmed this information, however, and a more modest joint statement remains possible.
The visit comes a week after Riyadh launched a multinational maritime initiative to protect trade routes in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden. Fourteen countries, including Turkey and Pakistan, have already joined this coalition. The Strait of Hormuz, meanwhile, has been disrupted for months by the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran, which has retaliated by launching missiles and drones against American military bases in the region, including in Gulf states, and by targeting hotels and energy infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia is also facing a resurgence of tensions with the Houthis in Yemen: the two sides have been exchanging strikes for several weeks, and the Yemeni group is targeting Saudi ships in the Red Sea.
During Erdogan's previous visit to Riyadh in February, the two countries issued a joint statement pledging to strengthen their economic, energy, and security cooperation. The statement affirmed their commitment to "developing their defense relations" and their shared support for the ceasefire in Gaza and the internationally recognized government in Yemen. Both capitals also rejected Israel's recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland, reaffirming their support for "the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and unity of the Federal Republic of Somalia."
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