As the U.S. signals a smaller Middle East footprint, Turkey is ready to step in

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, Sept. 22. Seth Wenig/AP hide caption toggle caption Seth Wenig/AP ISTANBUL — It was a milestone moment. Leaders from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan were meeting at a palace overlooking the Grand Mosque in Islam's holy city of Mecca. Sitting side by side that day, on Aug. 7, at hardwood desks set against a backdrop of silk drapery, the three leaders put pen to paper and signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. Described by some as the birth of a "Sunni Security Triad," the agreement combines Saudi Arabia's oil wealth, the growing defense might of Turkey, which already fields NATO's second largest military, and Pakistan's nuclear capabilities. It includes NATO's Article 5-style language, that any armed attack on one of the three Sunni Muslim states is regarded as an attack on all of them, and a commitment between them to exchange intelligence and defense technology. But perhaps more important than the contents of the deal, the agreement symbolizes a cornerstone of an emerging regional security architecture and a hedge against po...