Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a NATO-style mutual defense pact in Mecca on Friday, committing to treat an armed attack on any one of the three nations as an attack on all. The pact formalizes years of growing security cooperation between the three Muslim-majority powers and builds directly on a bilateral Saudi-Pakistan defense agreement signed in September 2025. A Formal Sunni-Led Security BlocThe agreement seeks to strengthen joint deterrence and expand defense cooperation, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Saudi Arabia serves as custodian of Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest sites, and holds substantial financial resources tied to its oil reserves. He argued that decades of reliance on the United States had similarly failed to secure the kingdom, and called on Saudi Arabia to change its approach rather than seek protection from other nations.