Turkey hunts for new security alliances as regional tensions rise
Turkey is aiming to build a new security structure in the region by forging new military cooperation agreements and establishing new allies, sources and experts on the issue told Middle East Eye.
A Bloomberg report earlier this month said that Ankara was seeking to join a military pact formed between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan last year.
The security agreement between Riyadh and Islamabad commits both countries to treat any act of aggression against one as an act against both.
When the deal was signed in September 2025, Saudi officials said "all military means" would fall under the terms of the agreement, alluding to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
Turkish sources told Middle East Eye that Ankara has drawn closer to Saudi Arabia in recent years and that it was seeking to deepen its military and security ties with the kingdom.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
However, they cautioned that it is still too early to speak of a Nato-style alliance between the three countries, which would require interoperability and deeper military commitments.
Turkey has only such commitments with Nato, Northern Cyprus and recently Azerbaijan.
“Our security relations with Riyadh have been developing recently, but it’s a little too early to say whether this development will transform the agreement between the two countries into a pact that includes us,” one of the sources said.
A second source said there have been exploratory talks with the Saudis on expanding security cooperation in areas of joint interest, stretching from Syria and Gaza to the Horn of Africa, yet the issue remains too premature to move forward.
“The negotiations are purely with Riyadh, since we already have ongoing defence cooperation with Pakistan, including joint defence industry projects, arms sales, and joint military drills,” the second source said, adding that Riyadh’s level of interest would determine the outcome.
Erdogan plans Gulf visit
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit several Gulf nations later this year, possibly in February.
His trip is set to include Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, sources familiar with the issue told MEE.
Erdogan is expected to discuss security matters with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
A person familiar with Saudi concerns acknowledged that recent geopolitical developments in the region are indeed pushing both countries closer together but said a full-fledged alliance would be too “far-fetched” at this stage.
Cinzia Bianco, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, also agrees that Saudi Arabia does not want a Nato-like pact with Turkey.
“I think the tripartite deal would serve to formalise a triangular defense and security partnership, where Saudi Arabia would act as a conduit facilitating Pakistani–Turkish cooperation on intelligence, defence industry, and interoperability across theaters in Mena and the Red Sea,” Bianco said.
Sources suggested that Ankara has been seeking additional security partners in the region for some time.
In March, Turkey tried to establish a new security framework including Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon to counter the Islamic State group.
The initiative aimed to establish a joint war room in Damascus, but ultimately only Jordan decided to participate in the operations.
“There is an effort to make the existing security architecture first more multilateral and then more regional,” said Kadir Temiz, chairman of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (Orsam).
“Regional security is the key phrase that the Turkish foreign minister frequently emphasises.”
Speaking with Al Jazeera on the tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE following the bombing of an alleged weapons shipment in Yemen, Dr Andreas Krieg has described a new regional order "that includes the Israelis but excludes other Arab states, the Gulf and Turkey". pic.twitter.com/ZtcSoJlYEG
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 1, 2026
Ankara also expressed interest in Egypt’s proposal to establish an Arab defence force modelled after Nato, which was blocked by Gulf countries in September.
“Egypt proposed a defensive regional force under the 1950 Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation Treaty, aiming to establish a rapid-response alliance to shield member states from external threats, particularly Israel,” a senior Egyptian diplomat told MEE in September. “But Qatar and the UAE mainly blocked the plan.”
The Gulf countries were also reluctant to include Turkey and Iran in the alliance.
Israel as main challenge
Murat Yesiltas, director of Security Studies at the Seta Foundation and a member of the Turkish Presidency’s Security and Foreign Policies Council, said there is indeed an appetite in Ankara to deepen military cooperation with various actors to further strengthen deterrence.
“The political posture on this issue naturally creates deterrence,” he said.
“Turkey does not want to present this initiative as a Nato-like pact, but rather as a defense cooperation mechanism that could eventually include Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.”
Yesiltas said Ankara is also seeking to strengthen its ties with Egypt this year, as the two countries share increasing common interests in several areas.
He added that Saudi Arabia will also be a key regional actor, combining its capital and leadership with Pakistan’s military experience and potentially Turkey’s defence infrastructure.
“The United States would not strongly object to this,” he added.
“Saudi Arabia and Egypt could step forward and help stabilise the region.”
Yesiltas noted that regional countries are likely to view Israel as the main challenge in the region.
Still, Ankara’s goal is not to create a bloc solely focused on Israel but rather to promote regional stability following the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria.
“This could also prevent Iran from regrouping and reestablishing its proxy networks in the region, and such stabilisation could, in turn, serve Israel’s security concerns,” he said.
Temiz believes that regional actors do not want Israel and the United States to singlehandedly shape the region’s security order.
He added that such local alliances could, in fact, align with US President Donald Trump’s vision of reducing Washington’s direct involvement in the Middle East and transferring security responsibilities to regional actors as a cost-saving measure.
“I believe that in the coming period we may see the formation of security alliances within such sub-regional frameworks,” Temiz said.
“Medium-sized countries are being given, or even encouraged to take, more space in this regard."
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
