Syria Says Talks Underway on Joining Mecca Defense Pact

Manama, MINA – Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Saturday that discussions are currently underway to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Mecca alliance, a regional pact that brings together Turkiye, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, Anadolu Agency reported.

Shaibani’s remarks came during a session on regional security at the Manama Dialogue 2026, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

He said Damascus was an integral part of regional security and would support any framework aimed at protecting regional stability. The minister stressed that the region was in greater need than ever of developing joint deterrence and defense systems.

Addressing the conflict in Yemen, Shaibani reaffirmed Syria’s support for the Yemeni government in restoring its sovereignty and stability across the country. He also urged all parties to support the unity and sovereignty of states.

Separately, the Syrian foreign minister said Israel has carried out more than 1,000 attacks on his country in less than two years, killing dozens of people.

“Our territory has been subjected to more than 1,000 Israeli attacks in less than two years, killing dozens,” Shaibani said. “How can calls for border control and placing weapons exclusively under state control be justified while Syrian sovereignty is violated and targeted on a daily basis?”

Condemning the Israeli attacks, Shaibani called for a return to the lines in place before December 8, 2024, and implementation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. He stressed that the Golan Heights is Syrian territory and that UN Security Council Resolution 497 serves as the reference on this matter.

Since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria on December 8, 2024, Israel has occupied the Syrian buffer zone established under the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and set up military positions inside and outside it, a move the UN described as a violation of the agreement.

The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement was signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Mecca on August 7, 2026, enshrining the principle that an attack on one is an attack on all. A Strategic Political and Defense Committee established under the pact held its first meeting in Istanbul on August 31, and the three countries have since agreed to further institutionalize cooperation.

The pact has been described by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as sending a message of unity and peace throughout the region. In late October, delegations from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iran attended a quadripartite meeting in Tehran hosted by the secretary general of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Iran and the Mecca Pact countries agreed to continue talks amid fears of renewed regional conflict.

Syria’s potential accession would mark a significant expansion of the alliance, extending it into the Levant and binding Damascus to a security framework built around Sunni-majority powers. For Syria, membership could offer a measure of deterrence against continued Israeli strikes, though it remains unclear what obligations accession would entail and whether the pact’s members would be prepared to extend security guarantees to a country facing daily Israeli violations.

The discussions also come as Syria seeks to consolidate its post-Assad transition and assert sovereignty over its territory, a goal Shaibani linked directly to the question of border control and state monopoly on weapons. His remarks suggest Damascus views regional alignment as leverage in that effort, even as the Israeli campaign continues.[]

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)