Turkey expects Egypt to join a new NATO-style mutual defence pact signed Friday by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said, signalling plans to expand the alliance after the leaders of the three founding states sealed the deal in Mecca.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan favours broadening the bloc, Fidan told state-run Anadolu Agency, adding that Egypt could accede once "some technical hurdles" are overcome. The agreement, which treats any armed attack on one member as an attack on all three, had been in preparation for more than two years, Fidan said.
He stressed that the pact does not conflict with Turkey's commitments to NATO, of which Ankara has been a member since 1952.