RIYADH (Dispatches) -- Turkey and Pakistan agreed to activate the Mecca Defense Alliance for the first time on October 5, committing to rapidly deploy troops to Saudi Arabia to participate in the kingdom’s war on Yemen. 
By all indications, Ankara and Islamabad are motivated not by collective security but by the prospect of a financial windfall from intervening in the Saudi aggression and siege of Yemen, having watched the United States treat the kingdom as a milch cow for years.
Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman announced the decision on social media, claiming the alliance had “reaffirmed the solidarity and unity of our countries, in confronting the heinous attacks against the kingdom, and holy sites.” 
The emergency meeting of the three states’ defense and foreign ministers in Riyadh produced a joint statement citing fabricated attempts to strike Mecca and Medina, as well as retaliatory strikes on Saudi targets, without naming the Yemeni Armed Forces.
The joint statement allegedly commits the three states to immediately put their collective defense pledges into practice, providing agreed forces and military capabilities for rapid deployment inside the kingdom. 
The deployments will follow approved arrangements and comply with each country’s national laws. The three governments hailed the deployment as a boost to their combined military readiness, reiterating that an attack on one member is an attack on all.
On Tuesday, the YAF launched a wave of retaliatory strikes on Saudi Arabia, with missiles and drones striking airports, an Aramco refinery, and military sites across the kingdom. The operations came in response to 60 Saudi air and missile strikes on Yemen in a single day, bringing the total since the latest escalation began to 1,576.
The bombardment escalated on Monday, when Riyadh launched “Dawn of Yemen,” throwing 100 fighter jets behind an offensive by Saudi forces to retake the Bab al-Mandab entrance and western coast, which the YAF seized in September. 
Saudi energy and military sites have been under Yemeni fire since Riyadh’s renewed aggression against Yemen in July.
Sana’a has warned international airlines that all Saudi airspace, except over Mecca and Medina, falls within its battlefield. Riyadh has tried to accuse Yemeni forces of trying to hit areas near Mecca and a power facility in Medina with false flag operations. 
Sana’a denies targeting either holy city or any Islamic shrine, affirming its operations are aimed at Saudi military and oil infrastructure.
For Turkey and Pakistan, the intervention offers a lucrative opportunity to deepen military and financial ties with Riyadh, mirroring the U.S. model of extracting maximum benefit from the kingdom’s security dependencies—while Yemen bears the cost.