The Aporia · Why are Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar and Indonesia joining forces?

Why are Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar and Indonesia joining forces?

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Hussain, T. (2026, October 27). Why are Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar and Indonesia joining forces? South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3372228/why-are-turkey-pakistan-qatar-and-indonesia-joining-forces

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Quick Summary

Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar, and Indonesia have formed an alliance called the Badr defence pact, aiming to reduce dependence on Western arms and avoid associated political conditions. Signed in Doha on Wednesday, the memorandum of understanding outlines plans for these nations to collaborate on integrating their defense industries and supply chains.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-27, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in August 2025, aiming to bolster cooperation among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey as regional powers amid increasing uncertainty due to conflicts with Iran. The agreement includes provisions for collective defense against external attacks, mirroring NATO’s Article 5, but explicitly excludes offensive actions.

In addition to the Makkah pact, Pakistan has also signed multiple other defense agreements since September 2025, including the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) with Saudi Arabia and a separate agreement with Kuwait. The Badr Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, and Indonesia in Doha on October 17, focusing on joint defense production, technology transfer, research, and development to reduce reliance on Western arms sales.

These agreements aim to enhance regional security and strategic autonomy for the participating nations while fostering industrial cooperation and interoperability among their armed forces. The text of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement emphasizes defensive measures and excludes commitments to offensive operations or sending troops abroad, addressing concerns about involvement in conflicts like the Saudi-Houthi war in Yemen.

The proliferation of these defense pacts reflects a broader trend in the Middle East toward diversifying security partnerships amid growing doubts about traditional US-led arrangements. Despite this fragmentation, there is an emphasis on building mutual defense capabilities without necessarily aligning with existing blocs or committing to aggressive military engagements beyond self-defense.

Written for “Makkah Defence Alliance Pact” on 2026-10-27, grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.

The four-nation Badr defence pact seeks to shed dependence on Western arms sales and the political strings that come with them

left criticizes reliance on Western arms for political influence

Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence high

Leaning: leans left for article 109239 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-27

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

The Gulf’s emerging web of security partnerships same event · 100%

Dawn

⚖️ Leans left 🔴 18% hedged 8 of 45 📰 publisher trust 72

“Both articles describe the signing of the Badr Memorandum of Understanding by Pakistan, Türkiye, Qatar, and Indonesia on the same day in Doha.”

Decoding defence deals same event · 95%

Dawn

⚖️ Leans left 🔴 6% hedged 3 of 48 📰 publisher trust 72

“Both articles discuss the signing of the Badr agreement among Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, and Indonesia on the same date.”

Makkah pact allies move from defence to diplomacy different event · 80%

Dawn

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 17% hedged 5 of 29 📰 publisher trust 72

“The articles describe different meetings and agreements. Article A focuses on the signing of the Badr defence pact in Doha, while Article B discusses a subsequent diplomatic meeting between Iran and officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 2 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans left

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

64/100

South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Politics

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-27 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

South China Morning Post · 3198 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Tom Hussain

10 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 The four-nation Badr defence pact seeks to shed dependence on Western arms sales and the political strings that come with them Following the signing of the Badr memorandum of understanding in Doha on Wednesday, the four governments separately said they would work towards integrating their defence industries and supply chains to meet military needs.

2026-10-27 · assertive framing · Why are Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar and Indonesia joining forces?

🔮 Gulf economies accelerate diversification as recession looms over Iran war Even as the region’s economic downturn is expected to worsen, Gulf states are slated to spend tens of billions of dollars on infrastructure 4-MIN READ4-MIN

2026-10-25 · assertive framing · Gulf economies accelerate diversification as recession looms over Iran war

🔮 Saudi-Iran war risk grows as Riyadh resumes Yemen bombing Backed by Western and regional allies, Riyadh’s renewed campaign against the Houthis threatens to blow Tehran’s proxy war wide open Analysts expect the Houthis to retaliate by intensifying drone and ballistic missile attacks against Saudi Arabia, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are expected to supply weapons and targeting intelligence to their partners in so-called Axis of Resistance. Casualties on all sides are also likely to rise as the war widens and draws in more international players.

2026-10-06 · assertive framing · Saudi-Iran war risk grows as Riyadh resumes Yemen bombing

🔮 Pakistani troops are expected to take over various defensive functions for Saudi Arabia to enable the Middle East country to fight an all-out war aimed at defeating Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

2026-10-03 · mixed framing · As Saudi Arabia steps up war against Yemen’s Houthis, Pakistan set to play support role

🔮 Trump’s belief that all would be “fine and dandy” contrasted starkly with the suspension of Saudi oil exports from the Red Sea the same day, after drone strikes by Iran-allied Iraqi militias badly damaged the east-west pipeline that had enabled the kingdom to bypass Hormuz since the Iran war erupted on February 28.

2026-09-18 · mixed framing · Saudi scrambles to solve ‘humiliating dilemma’ after US rejects Red Sea intervention

🔮 Why the Middle East could be entering a new nuclear age

2026-09-15 · speculative framing · ‘Doing a North Korea’? Why the Middle East could be entering a new nuclear age

🔮 Most of the 229 per cent budget increase will fund domestic arms production as Ankara seeks to cut reliance on the West Announcing the plan on Sunday, Vice-President Cevdet Yilmaz said the aim was to ensure Turkey “develops its own technologies in the defence industry, can meet its own needs and produces high added value”.

2026-09-11 · assertive framing · Surrounded by war, Turkey more than triples defence spending

Also by Tom Hussain