Turkey said ‘very likely’ to join Saudi Arabia-Pakistan mutual defense pact |
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........