MANAMA: Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Saturday that Damascus was considering whether to join the Makkah defence pact signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye.
The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed on Aug 7, allows the three members to consider an armed attack on one of them an attack on all.
“Discussions are currently underway to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Makkah alliance,” the Syrian minister said at the Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain, AFP reported.
According to Syria’s SANA news agency, the foreign minister, speaking about ongoing regional conflicts, expressed Damascus’s support for Gulf states against any aggression and condemned missile and drone attacks.
“Geography is destiny, and integration is a choice. We have chosen to make our territory a bridge for prosperity and the exchange of interests, and we stand as a bulwark against turning Syria into a platform for threatening neighbouring countries,” he was quoted as saying.
The minister also condemned repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, reaffirmed that the occupied Golan Heights was Syrian land and called for a path towards an independent Palestinian state.
Saudi Arabia has been rallying support against escalating attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, including a deadly strike that forced the closure of Riyadh’s international airport for two weeks this month.
Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2026
