Egypt must “carefully” consider legal and constitutional issues before it decides whether to join a defence pact signed last week by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said.
“Obviously, when it comes to co-operation in the field of defence and when there are associated commitments, then it's natural that the matter requires deep studies in the light of Egypt's constitution and legal commitments,” he explained.
Addressing a news conference alongside his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in the Egyptian city of Alamein, he said that Cairo is studying the pact “very seriously and from all sides because there are legal, constitutional and technical issues that need to be addressed and carefully studied before making a decision”.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the “Mecca Joint Defence Agreement” last week. The accord stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three nations would be regarded as an attack on all.
The accord came at a time when the US-Iran conflict is undermining regional stability and security, with Tehran attempting to block the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf and targeting shipping in the vital waterway.
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have meanwhile been attacking oil facilities in Saudi Arabia after they declared a blockade of the kingdom's Red Sea coastline.
Egypt has close relations with all three signatories of the Makkah accord. It has shown readiness to join a Saudi-led alliance to protect shipping in the Red Sea, which was formed in response to the Houthis' growing threat to shipping.
Egypt is already part of an informal alliance with the three nations that serves as a forum for co-ordinating foreign policy and allows representatives of the four nations to meet regularly for consultations. The militaries of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey also hold bilateral war games on a regular basis and are bound by significant economic and social ties.
“I believe that in the next stage, Egypt will also be among us,” Mr Fidan told the state-run Anadolu Agency in an interview last week. “There are a few technical matters there. Once those are implemented, there is no reason for Egypt not to be included as well.”
Addressing Thursday's new conference in Alamein, he again expressed his wish to see Egypt join the pact, which he described as “historic”.
Mr Abdelatty's comments late on Thursday were the first by an Egyptian official to address Cairo's position on the Makkah accord. The minister did not go into detail when he cited the constitutional and legal issues that Cairo needed to consider before deciding whether to join the three-nation defence pact.
Egypt prides itself on what it sees as its ability to engage with everyone in the region, including Iran and its proxies. It believes those channels enable it to play an effective mediation role in regional conflicts such as the ones in Gaza and between the US and Iran.
