Turkey planning mandate to send military personnel to Saudi Arabia under Mecca pact, ruling party official says

Mayor of Izmir Cemil Tugay joins ruling AK Party in Ankara — PPO/Mustafa Kamaci ANKARA, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Turkey will submit to parliament a mandate allowing for military personnel to be deployed to Saudi Arabia under its joint defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, a lawmaker from the ruling AK Party told Reuters on Wednesday.The lawmaker said the mandate would be sent to parliament once a bill ratifying the accord has been approved.Turkey submitted the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement — signed by the three countries in August — to parliament for ratification on Tuesday, moving NATO's second-largest army closer to a formal mutual defence pledge with Riyadh as it faces Houthi attacks. (Reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Daren Butler and Tomasz Janowski) This one's on us. The story doesn't end here. Our correspondents are already on the next chapter. Read everything they file, from $2/week. See Offers