A mysterious “flying object”, a strange “cloud” that appeared in the sky in Greece on Tuesday evening, shortly before the sunset, caused concern and curiosity among residents of southeastern Attica, Crete and some other islands yesterday, August 11, 2026. Images and eyewitnesses claimed that there was no other cloud in the sky at that time. […]
A 17-year-old boy died of electrocution allegedly due to a failure in the water heater of the house he was accommodated on the island of Kimolos in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. The teenager boy from Ireland was on summer vacation together with his mother and lost his life while he was taking […]
Two touristic vessels collided in the sea area of Voutoumi Bay off the island of Antipaxos in the Ionian Sea at noon on Tuesday, August 11. A total of 214 passengers were onboard of the two vessels and watched in horror what was happening right in front of their eyes. The small boat had 10 […]
Greek long jump athlete Miltos Tentoglou won gold during the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on Tuesday night. His jumps ranged between 8.19 and 8.44, clinching his victory with 8.44, his highest score during his fourth and last attempt. 28-year-old Tentoglou added his fourth gold medal at successive European championships, securing a position as the […]
The first total solar eclipse in 27 years is happening today, 12. August 2026, and together with the rest of the world also Greeks are awaiting with great anticipation the rare phenomenon, asking when and where it will be visible. The world is preparing for one of the most important astronomical phenomena in recent years, […]
Greece’s Civil Protection warns of Very High Fire Risk (risk category 4) for Wednesday, August 12, 2026. Strong northerly winds and hot-dry weather prevail across the country also today. According to the Fire Risk Forecast Map issued by the General Secretariat of Civil Protection of the Ministry of Climate Crisis & Civil Protection a Very […]
The charred body of a man was found inside a car on fire on Tuesday when firefighters rushed to extinguish a fire in Pikermi village in eastern Attica, on August 11, 2026. The fire on the vehicle is believed to have started a wildfire in the surrounding area. The body reportedly belonged to a man, […]
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was shortly hospitalized in the general hospital of Chania on the island of Crete after an accident with his bicycle yesterday Monday. According to information from local media zarpanews.gr, the accident occurred when the front wheel of the bicycle “slipped”, causing the Prime Minister to lose his balance and fall to […]
The Greek countryside is deserting, the villages are “extinguishing” and banks have no interest in the areas. Greek Finance Minister and Eurogroup chief, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, had a brilliant idea: village cafes to operate as ATMs, facilitate citizens to come to cash. According to a report by aftodioikisi.gr, in most of the remote villages, there is […]
Two wildfires on the island of Zakynthos – Zante – on Tuesday mobilized strong firefighting forces and aerial means and forced the evacuation of a village. The first wildfire that broke out early Tuesday in the Marathias area of Keri was fully contained within a few hours, while a separate blaze triggered the evacuation of […]
The total outstanding liabilities of General Government entities to private individuals and businesses fell by 168 million euros in June, declining to 3.55 billion euros from 3.718 billion euros in May. However, over the first six months of the year, they have increased by 251 million euros compared with the 3.299 billion euros recorded in […]
The wildfire in eastern Attica on Monday, August 10, that broke out on Monday morning in Kouvaras, eastern Attica, is being attributed to sparks caused by contact between low-voltage cables belonging to the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (DEDDIE/HEDNO). This are the findings of the Fire Brigade’s investigative authorities so far, state-run news agency amna.gr […]
An Italian tourist suffered heavy head injuries after she was swept away by the blast of turbines of a passenger airplane taking off from the airport of the island of Skiathos in the Aegean Sea. The serious accident occurred at noon on Monday, August 10, and the 52-year-old woman had to be airlifted for emergency […]
Despite the red flags warning of dangerous weather conditions placed on a beach in Chania on the island of Crete, a tourist entered the water risking her own life as well as the lives of those who rushed to rescue her. The 60-year-old woman ignored the warning red flags im Kavros beach in Apokoronas and […]
Greece’s Civil Protection warns of Very High Fire Risk (risk category 4) for tomorrow, Tuesday, August 11, 2026. The Very High Fire Risk is due to the strong summer winds (meltemia) and the dry and hot weather in the last weeks. Affected are again the region of Attica and several others, mainly belonging to the […]
A Greek magistrate has ordered the Fire Brigade’s arson division to examine all wind farms in Greece, following the megafire in Viotia that spread to western Attica and destroyed thousands of acres of forest land and burned down around 100 homes in the last days of July and the first of August 2026. According to […]
Greece’s central bank sees the further participation of foreign financial institutions in the share capital of Greek banks as absolutely desirable, Bank of Greece governor Yannis Stournaras said in statements to the German newspaper “Handelsblatt” on Monday. He noted that further participation of global financial institutions on the path toward a European banking union would […]
Italian police officers are patrolling on the streets of Athens together with their Greek colleagues. The new policing program following an agreement between Greece and Italy in 2025. Greece and Italy have launched joint police patrols in Athens and Rome in August 2026, implementing the 2025 agreement to strengthen public security, prevent crime and better […]
Over 200 firefighters and volunteers assisted by water-dropping helicopters and aerial means have been struggling against a wildfire in eastern Attica since early on Monday morning. One settlement already evacuated. Strong winds blowing with intensity of 7 Beaufort and gusts up to 8-9 B and changing their direction make the combat difficult. The fire […]
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey recently signed the “Mecca Joint Defense Agreement”. Many analysts believe this trilateral pact is aimed at checking Iranian and Israeli “hegemony” in the tumultuous Middle East region.
Meanwhile, the biggest question running through India’s nearly 1.5 billion people is how this trilateral defense pact will impact India, which has fought multiple wars with Pakistan and maintains a tense relationship with Islamabad.
Despite hogging global media limelight for playing the role of mediator in the ongoing Iran war, Pakistan’s position back home looks scary with relentless terror attacks and a deteriorating security situation.
Pakistan continues to face tremendous domestic pressures. Protests in Pak-controlled Kashmir have intensified since mid-2026, with scores of innocent protesters killed by the security forces.
Islamabad imposed a communication blockade, ordered foreign journalists to leave the region, and limited access to international media outlets, including Al Jazeera’s digital platform.
This is no ordinary region. India claims the Pak-controlled Kashmir as its own and has vowed to integrate it with Jammu and Kashmir. Reportedly, pro-India slogans and flags were seen in the demonstration.
Then, regions like Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) are Pakistan’s Achilles’ heel. Separatism in these two regions appears to have gone beyond the control of the Pakistan Army, and looks as volatile as East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during 1971. The question is how long Pakistan can hold these two regions, and at what cost.
Dismal economic conditions, disgruntled population, and heightened tensions with neighboring India and Afghanistan have intensified Pakistan’s problems. The question is: does Pakistan have the financial muscle or resources to fight a five-front conflict — Balochistan, KPK, Kashmir, India and Afghanistan, simultaneously?
On top of it, Pakistan has signed a defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which means they should be prepared to fight outside the country as well, probably against Houthis in Yemen. That would open a sixth front.
Indian military exposed Pakistan’s defense architecture during Operation Sindoor last year in May. India not only managed to breach Pakistani defenses to hit multiple terror targets in the first wave of attacks, but India also launched precision strikes that impaired critical Pakistani military infrastructure across the country.
Indian military targeted multiple airbases including Nur Khan (Chaklala) near Rawalpindi, Mushaf (Sargodha), Murid, Rafiqui, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Bholari, and others—using supersonic BrahMos and other precision munitions.
Satellite imagery confirmed the heavy damage, including destroyed runways, hangars, command-and-control centers, and loss of up to 14 aircraft (as per IAF) and scores of personnel on the ground. Pakistan also claimed downing multiple Indian jets, but it could hardly penetrate the Indian air defense network, led by the S-400.
Operation Sindoor demonstrated that Pakistan’s defenses could be easily penetrated and its Air Force could be crippled even with limited, restrained strikes.
Meanwhile, Turkey is already a member of NATO, arguably the most powerful Islamic country in terms of military. It does not really need Pakistan or Saudi Arabia to defend itself. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, has been battered by Iran and Houthi rebels. But when the US could not completely defend it, what can Pakistan and Turkey do?
In the case of Pakistan, it is the most vulnerable of the three.
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, signed on 7 August 2026 by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, assumes utmost importance for Islamabad. The pact’s core clause treats an armed attack on any one party as an attack on all three.
It directly follows the September 2025 Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
For Riyadh, it’s another insurance policy, but for Pakistan—still repairing airbases more than a year later—the pact is aimed at sending a strong deterrence message to India, which has pledged a devastating response to any terror attack on the country.
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Collective defense commitments from Riyadh and Ankara are sure to boost Pakistan’s morale, but Turkey (and Saudi Arabia) have been supporting Pakistan since 1947 and have never managed to turn the tide against India.
For instance, during the 1971 war, Turkey provided critical military and diplomatic support to defend Pakistan’s territorial integrity. Operating under the CENTO defense pact, Ankara provided substantial material support to Pakistan by providing aircraft assistance and military hardware, but to little avail.
Even politically, Turkey refused to recognize the newly independent state of Bangladesh for over two years. It only recognized Bangladesh in February 1974 after Pakistan did.
Meanwhile, India has already established strong military ties with Ankara’s adversaries, Greece, Cyprus, and Armenia. India also shares robust military ties with Israel. There might not be a formal agreement on paper, but India-Israel ties go beyond any melodramatic pact.
No doubt, the Mecca pact embeds Pakistan in a broader Islamic-world security architecture at a moment when its conventional defenses have been publicly tested while the country’s biggest province, Balochistan, continues to fight for its liberation, just like East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
For a country simultaneously battling insurgencies in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Pakistan-administered Kashmir while managing tense borders with both Afghanistan and India, the Mecca defense pact is far more valuable to Pakistan than it is to either Saudi Arabia or Turkey.
Nitin J Ticku holds a double master’s degree in Journalism and Business Management from the University of Glasgow. He has over 20 years of global experience in MARCOM, Journalism, and Digital Marketing, and has worked & traveled widely across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Nitin is the Editor of the EurAsian Times.
This is an Opinion Article
He can be reached at editor (at) eurasiantimes.com
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