Turkey's 'Neutrality' in a Saudi-Pakistan Pact: More Than Meets the Eye
📰 THE STORY: Reports indicate that Turkey will not join a proposed mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, with unnamed Saudi military sources confirming Ankara's detachment from the alleged alliance. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: This purported 'pact' harkens back to Cold War-era alliances like CENTO (Central Treaty Organization), originally the Baghdad
Pact, which was a British-backed military alliance formed in 1955 to counter Soviet influence and secure Western interests in the Middle East. It collapsed after Iraq's 1958 revolution but laid the groundwork for Saudi and Pakistani military cooperation, often at the behest of Western powers seeking to maintain regional control and, crucially, arm sales. Turkey was a key member of CENTO,
illustrating its historical role in these externally-driven regional security architectures. Double Standard: Western media would frame such a 'mutual defense pact' among non-NATO nations as a natural evolution of sovereign states protecting their interests. Yet, when nations like Iran, Russia, or China forge similar defense or economic ties, it's immediately branded as an 'axis of evil,' a
'threat to global stability,' or proof of 'authoritarian alignment.' The underlying double standard is that only U.S.-approved alliances are legitimate; all others are inherently suspicious and destabilizing, especially if they threaten the petrodollar or arms industry profits. Follow the Money: These 'defense pacts' are rarely about genuine mutual defense. They are often thinly veiled arms deals.