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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday evening in Istanbul, pledging to strengthen bilateral ties and reaffirming the goal of increasing trade between Türkiye and Pakistan to $5 billion.
The meeting took place at the Dolmabahce Working Office in Istanbul, where the two leaders discussed Turkish-Pakistani relations, as well as key regional and global developments, according to the Turkish Communications Directorate.
Erdogan emphasized that Ankara remains committed to enhancing cooperation with Islamabad across multiple sectors, including energy, transportation, and defense. He also underlined the importance of expanding collaboration in training, intelligence sharing, and technological support as part of joint efforts to combat terrorism. Erdogan said Increasing solidarity between Türkiye and Pakistan in these fields serves the interests of both nations.
He also highlighted the need to make the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad rail line more efficient and called for concrete steps in education to further strengthen ties between the two countries.
Erdogan expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s principled stance on the Palestinian issue and noted that Türkiye continues to work to ensure the rapid delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler, National Intelligence Organization Director Ibrahim Kalin, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, Presidential Advisor on Foreign Policy and Security Akif Cagatay Kilic, and Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Selcuk Bayraktaroglu were also present at the reception.
“We confirmed and strengthened our mutual will to enhance the deep-rooted historical, human and political ties between Türkiye and Pakistan in every field,” Erdogan said on X following the meeting.
“We further consolidated our unshakable bonds, cooperation, solidarity and brotherhood between our countries and peoples,” he added, expressing his heartfelt greetings to the Pakistani people through Prime Minister Sharif..
Meanwhile following the talks, Sharif said in a post on X that it was an honor to meet “my dear brother President Recep Tayyip Erdogan” in Istanbul and conveyed the gratitude of the Pakistani people to the Turkish nation.
He thanked Erdogan for his “resolute support” to Pakistan during its recent standoff with India, which he described as resulting in Pakistan’s “overwhelming victory.”
Sharif said both leaders reviewed the progress of bilateral cooperation, especially in trade and investment, and reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen the “unshakable bonds of brotherhood and cooperation.”
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