Turkey, Qatar, Pakistan and Indonesia sign Badr memorandum to pool military production

Turkey, Qatar, Pakistan and Indonesia signed a memorandum on Wednesday 21 October to deepen cooperation on military production and defence industry work, Turkey's National Defence Ministry said. The document, named Badr, was signed in the Qatari capital Doha, according to the ministry statement carried by Anadolu Agency and by Reuters.

The signatories were Turkish National Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman bin Hasan Al Thani, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Indonesian Deputy Defence Minister Yusuf Jauhari. Haluk Gorgun, who heads Turkey's Presidency of Defence Industries, also attended the ceremony, Anadolu reported.

According to the Turkish ministry, the memorandum is meant to promote cooperation in military production, strengthen the four countries' military capabilities and support joint work in technical military training and in research and development. The ministry said the initiative should also help develop solutions and industrial sectors in step with advances in modern defence systems.

The ministry described the deal as economically significant for the signatories because it would combine their military production capacity, improve integration between their industries and help them meet the needs of allied and friendly countries. AzerNews, citing Turkish broadcaster TRT, likewise said the memorandum seeks to let the four countries make mutual use of their defence industry capabilities.

Reuters, reporting the same statement, said the accord would also support military exercises and training alongside the research and industrial cooperation.

Indonesia sent a newly appointed official to sign. Kompas reported on 16 October that President Prabowo Subianto had named Air Marshal Yusuf Jauhari as deputy defence minister for logistics, defence industry and technology, with responsibility for modernising equipment, strengthening the domestic arms industry, technology transfer and the defence supply chain. Before the appointment he headed the ministry's Defence Logistics Agency, a body created in 2025 that handles procurement of defence equipment.

The Doha memorandum follows a separate and more binding arrangement among some of the same states. Reuters said Turkey on Tuesday sent a defence pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to its parliament for ratification, according to three parliamentary sources. Under that Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed in August, an armed attack on one member is treated as an attack on all, although the joint statement issued at the signing did not spell out each country's commitments. AzerNews dated the Mecca signing to 7 August.

Reuters added that at an emergency meeting of the Mecca alliance in Riyadh earlier this month, the members agreed to ensure the rapid deployment of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia.

Indonesia is not a party to the Mecca agreement, and none of the published accounts describe the Badr memorandum as a mutual defence commitment. The Turkish statement also did not name any specific weapons programme, budget or timetable, so it remains unclear what joint production the four countries will pursue first. Indonesia is the only Southeast Asian state among the signatories.