ANKARA, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Turkey will submit to parliament a mandate allowing for military personnel to be deployed to Saudi Arabia under its joint defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, a lawmaker from the ruling AK Party told Reuters on Wednesday.
The lawmaker said the mandate would be sent to parliament once a bill ratifying the accord has been approved.
Turkey submitted the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement — signed by the three countries in August — to parliament for ratification on Tuesday, moving NATO’s second-largest army closer to a formal mutual defence pledge with Riyadh as it faces Houthi attacks.
(Reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Daren Butler and Tomasz Janowski)
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