Turkey just pledged its military to Saudi Arabia against the Houthis

Turkey's parliament just signed off on sending military help to Saudi Arabia.

So here's what happened. A few hours ago, Turkey's parliament voted to ratify the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. That's the pact tying Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan together.

The vote was 279 in favour, 119 against. 398 out of 592 lawmakers showed up for it.

And here's what the pact actually says. If one of the three countries gets attacked, the other two treat it as an attack on themselves too.

This isn't new. Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, signed the agreement in Mecca three months ago. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had already ratified it on their end. Turkey's vote was the last piece.

So why does this matter right now? Because Saudi Arabia is being hit. Houthi forces in Yemen have been escalating attacks on Saudi Arabia since early last month, hitting airports and energy sites.

But here's the thing. Turkish troops are not about to show up in Saudi Arabia just because of this vote.

Two reasons.

One: the treaty itself isn't law yet. It still has to be published in Turkey's Official Gazette, and Turkey has to formally hand over its ratification paperwork to the pact's secretariat.

Two: ratifying a defence pact and sending troops abroad are two completely different votes. Any real combat deployment needs its own separate vote in parliament.

Yasar Guler, Turkey's National Defence Minister, spoke about this about two weeks ago. He said the scope of Turkish support would be worked out after ratification, and that it would be there to strengthen deterrence. He also said Turkey does not foresee entering into any conflict with the Houthis.