Pakistan and Turkiye enjoy close, cultural, historical and military relations which are gradually being expanded as both the countries seek to develop their economies.
Briefly historically speaking, their relations date back generations before the establishment of the two states, more precisely during the Balkan War when the Muslims of the undivided subcontinent  sent a military mission to the declining Ottoman Empire which was followed by the formation  of the Turkish Republic after World War I.
It is also worth mentioning here that Turkiye has all along been quite firmly supporting Pakistan’s principled  position on the holding of a plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations in accordance with the world body’s Security Council resolutions in Indian-Occupied Kashmir to enable the struggling, suffering and bleeding Kashmiris for more than seven and half decades to secure freedom from Indian shackles of slavery and decide their future themselves. Turkiye’s stance was also reaffirmed by Turkish President Erdogan when he had addressed a joint session of the Parliament during his visit to Pakistan a couple of months back.
It is certainly and surely good to note that the top leadership of both the brotherly countries, Pakistan and Turkiye, have vowed to further strengthen their partnership for regional peace and development. This quiet appreciable and welcome development had taken place when in continuation of his recent visits to a number of brotherly countries during last couple of months, PM Shehbaz Sharif had paid a two-day visit to Turkiye. This was his fourth visit to Turkiye PM Shehbaz Sharif and host President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had held a bilateral meeting in a free and frank manner in Ankara and expressed their complete satisfaction on the ongoing positive trajectory of the multi-faceted bilateral relationship and reiterated their commitment to continue making concerted efforts for further strengthening their bilateral strategic partnership fostering peace, stability, development, and prosperity in the region. They also underscored the enduring fraternal ties between Pakistan and Turkiye and reaffirmed their firm commitment in a quite categorical manner to further deepening their bilateral cooperation across various sectors in the mutually beneficial manner to the people of both the countries.
According to the reports available, Sharif availed the opportunity to emphasize the importance of enhancing economic collaboration, especially through launching of joint ventures and making bilateral investment, and highlighted the vast potential for further promoting cooperation in energy and mining, joint ventures in defence and agricultural production, enhancing regional and bilateral connectivity for boosting mutual trade and enhancing people-to-people exchanges, as well as further deepening cooperation in the emerging technologies  such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber security. Needless to mention that the fast changing and developing technologies were direly needed by developing countries like Pakistan.
On his part, President Erdogan duly appreciated Pakistan’s consistent support for the Palestinian cause  and its ongoing humanitarian assistance for the war-hit Palestinian people.
The Pakistani PM and the host Turkish President during their bilateral discussions also deliberated on a number of regional and global issues and matters and reaffirmed their mutual support for each other on issues of national interests and also expressed their heartfelt deep concern over the humanitarian situation in war-torn Gaza, called for an immediate ceasefire and the unhindered and unobstructed humanitarian assistance to the war-hit people.
The PM’s visit to Turkiye and his interaction with Turkish President Erdogan has once again quite emphatically reaffirmed the unshakeable and time -tested friendship between Pakistan and Turkiye their enduring brotherly relationship, which was deeply rooted in the shared history , common values and mutual respect has quite successfully continued to flourish across diverse mutually beneficial domains from strategic partnerships and defence collaborations to launching of joint economic ventures and frequent people-to-people exchanges. This augurs well for both the  brotherly countries  and their people in short and long terms.
During the discussions, Pakistani and Turkish leaders also deliberated over the follow-up actions being taken at the appropriate levels both in Ankara and Islamabad regarding the decisions taken during the 7th High-Level Strategic Cooperation council (HLSCC) which was held in Islamabad in February 2025 during the Turkish President ‘s important and friendly visit Both Pakistan and Turkiye are long-standing strategic partners and they duly ensure to maintain frequent high-level exchanges which quite obviously reflect the exceptional bonds of brotherhood between the two nations. The recent visit by the PM to Ankara represented continuation of this robust dialogue and also underscored the shared commitment to continue making mutually beneficial efforts and elevating the multifaceted partnership between Turkiye and Pakistan.
The PM’s visit to Turkiye and his interaction with Turkish President Erdogan has once again quite emphatically reaffirmed the unshakeable and time -tested friendship between Pakistan and Turkiye their enduring brotherly relationship, which was deeply rooted in the shared history, common values and mutual respect has quite successfully continued to flourish across diverse mutually beneficial domains from strategic partnerships and defence collaborations to launching of joint economic ventures and frequent people-to-people exchanges. This augurs well for both the brotherly countries and their people in short and long terms.
