Bashir Abdel Fattah, a researcher at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said that Egypt is exploring the possibility of joining the Mecca Defense Agreement, but does not want the agreement to restrict its freedom of action.
Expert: Egypt is considering joining the "Mecca Agreement for Joint Defense" and stipulates that its freedom of decision not be restricted.
The expert told TASS in an interview: “Egypt is seriously considering joining the Mecca Agreement and is seeking to strike a balance between protecting its national interests and participating in the coalition. Cairo will not want to enter into an agreement that restricts its freedom of action and deprives it of flexibility in decision-making.”
He added that Egypt has no "fundamental objections" to joining, but its leaders preferred to "take time" to study all the dimensions before making a decision.
Abdel Fattah indicated that Egypt had requested clarifications from participating countries on a number of "technical issues." Specifically, Cairo wants clarification on "which branches of the armed forces will participate" if the agreement's provisions are implemented, and what the powers of the signatory states will be. Furthermore, the Egyptian side has not yet received answers to questions regarding the deployment of coalition forces, specifically who will command them, and how.
He concluded by saying: "Egypt supports initiatives aimed at ensuring stability in the region, but the situation must first be fully clarified: ultimately, the agreement must be signed and implemented later."
The Mecca Agreement
was signed on August 7 by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The agreement stipulates that any attack on any member state of the coalition is considered an attack on all its members.
On August 13, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, during a visit to Egypt, expressed his hope that Egypt would soon join the agreement. However, his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdel-Aty, indicated that Cairo was "still studying the matter" and had not yet made a final decision.
