Turkey says Mecca pact committee to meet in Riyadh on October 5

ISTANBUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) – A committee of the Mecca defence pact between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will hold talks in Riyadh on Monday, with Turkish ministers among those attending, the Turkish foreign ministry said on Sunday.

The leader of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government announced on Sunday the beginning of a major military operation against the Iran-backed Houthis earlier on Sunday, aimed at seizing the territory under their control.

Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Friday that Iran had suggested engaging Yemen’s Houthis politically after attacks by the group, an idea that the Mecca defence pact committee would discuss at a meeting in Riyadh this week.

“The meeting will address recent developments in the region and the stage reached in the Alliance’s institutionalisation efforts,” the Turkish statement said.

It said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and chief of the general staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu would attend the meeting of the pact’s strategic political and defence committee, along with officials from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

(Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by Alex Richardson)