Turkish | Pakistan

Even before the pehlwans square off in the mud, the air is already wrestling with a mix of bruised earth and olive oil. Men of all ages and build, gleaming like magazine models from head to toe, prep for a day under the July sun in Edirne. For over six centuries, men have gathered in this northwestern Turkish city for Kırkpınar, the yağlı güreş or oil wrestling festival for what is considered the national sport. It has been around for so long that it was ancient by the time the Olympics were revived in 1896. “People say it’s all tall tales about the history of this festival. But whether you believe it or not, it’s all true,” says 59-year-old Yakup Kaya, as he weaves the taxi through Edirne’s cobbled streets and Ottoman-era lanes towards Sarayiçi Er Meydani, where Kirkpinar comes alive. Legend has it that in 1361 Suleyman Pasha, the son of the second Ottoman sultan, Orhan I, and his army of forty soldiers, marched through the Eastern Thracian province of Edirne. To kill time, the men were paired off to wrestle...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held separate telephone conversations with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts on Tuesday to discuss regional and international developments, the Foreign Office said.

The Foreign Office (FO) said on Friday that the continued absence of a top Turkish delegation meant to mediate tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan was due to a lack of cooperation from the Taliban regime. Turkiye, one of the mediators alongside Qatar, recently hosted multiple rounds of talks between Islamabad and Kabul following an escalation of tensions between the two neighbours over the past weeks. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier signalled plans to send a delegation to Islamabad, but the visit has not materialised. The Turkiye-Qatar effort had produced a fragile ceasefire, though the FO spokesperson said the truce had faltered because it was “contingent on a halt in terrorist activities”. Questioned in his weekly press briefing about the lack of a visit thus far from the Turkish delegation, the FO spokesperson responded: “Pakistan was open, and stands ready. And I believe that the delegation has not arrived because of scheduling issues, and perhaps by a lack of cooperation from the...

FO blames Taliban for Turkish delegation delay

From dubbed soap operas to Turkish restaurants, Ankara and Dhaka's growing cultural and political ties

A nine-member Turkish delegation visited the Parliament House and Constitution Gallery (Gali-e-Dastoor) in Islamabad on Thursday.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday invited Turkish companies to expand their investment footprint in Pakistan.

Gul Noor Tambet has etched her name in mountaineering history by becoming the first Turkish woman to reach the summit of K2, the second-highest mountain in the world.

ISLAMABAD - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Thursday inaugurated a Turkish cultural photo exhibition in Islamabad, highlighting the deepening cultural ties between Pakistan and Türkiye.

An ice-cream seller in Turkiye was arrested and his shop was sealed earlier this week for allegedly sexually harassing a woman tourist, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported. According to the newspaper, the incident was caught on camera, following which the ice cream shop in Istanbul’s Beyoglu municipality was sealed by local authorities. “An ice cream vendor in Beyoglu started playing a cone trick on a female tourist and allegedly harassed the woman as she tried to take the cone,” Hurriyet reported. “After the images surfaced on social media, the ice cream shop drew widespread criticism. Beyoglu Municipality teams subsequently sealed the business.” Beyoglu Mayor Inan Guney took to X and posted a video of police removing equipment from the shop, writing, “Our municipal police teams have sealed the relevant establishment. “Beyoglu is a district where all women can walk safely, and we will take every measure to ensure it remains so,” the post added.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said Pakistan and Turkiye were pursuing the establishment of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for Turkish entrepreneurs in Karachi. The announcement came after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived in Islamabad earlier today on an official visit. Turkiye’s Minister of National Defence Yasar Guler is also visiting Pakistan. Pakistan and Turkiye enjoy strong bilateral ties built on shared cultural, religious and historical bonds, as well as mutual respect. In February, the two countries pledged to boost bilateral trade to $5 billion as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Islamabad. “We are pursuing the establishment of a Special Economic Zone dedicated to Turkish entrepreneurs at Karachi,” Dar said, addressing a press conference alongside Fidan at the Foreign Office (FO). Dar also mentioned other engagements, including the revival of the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad train, saying, “Our delegations are meeting in the coming weeks to finalise t...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Tuesday expressed condolences over the martyrdom of 12 Turkish soldiers after they were exposed to methane gas during a search operation in northern Iraq.

Pakistan on Tuesday extended heartfelt condolences to Turkiye over the tragic death of 12 Turkish soldiers who were martyred after being exposed to methane gas during a military operation in northern Iraq.

At least 12 Turkish soldiers died from methane gas exposure in Iraq during a search operation inside a cave in a mountain, the Turkish defence ministry said. In a statement, the Turkish Ministry of Defence said that an operation was launched to locate the mortal remains of Infantry Lieutenant Nuri Melih Bozkurt, who was killed […]

A Turkish court arrested prominent independent journalist Fatih Altayli over comments on his social media allegedly threatening President Tayyip Erdogan, broadcaster NTV and others reported on Sunday. Altayli, who has more than 1.5 million YouTube subscribers, was detained on Saturday over comments in a video he posted on Friday in which he addressed a poll showing most Turks opposed Erdogan’s ruling for life. Altayli referenced Ottoman rulers, saying Turks had “killed” or “drowned” some they no longer wanted in power. Prosecutors in Istanbul later said the remarks “contained threats” against the president and launched an investigation. NTV said that in his defence to the court, Altayli denied threatening Erdogan, quoting him as saying that his remarks were taken out of context and made to appear like threats, even though they were simply part of rhetorical historical discussions. The development comes amid a series of detentions of opposition figures in recent months, including the arrest of Istanbul Mayor E...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader and head of the Senate parliamentary party, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, on Thursday strongly condemned India’s allegations against Türkiye and its recent actions targeting Turkish companies.

A man who desecrated a copy of the Holy Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London was found guilty on Monday of committing a religiously aggravated public order offence, in a verdict critics said effectively reinstated an abolished blasphemy law. Hamit Coskun, 50, was fined 240 pounds ($325) at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court after being convicted of being disorderly by shouting “F*** Islam” as he held aloft the burning book near the consulate in central London in February. The lawyer for Coskun, whose father was Kurdish and his mother Armenian and who lived in central England, had argued that the prosecution amounted to an attempt to bring back a blasphemy law that was abolished in England in 2008. Coskun had denied the charge and said on social media he was carrying out a protest against the Turkish government. While he was holding the book aloft, he was attacked by a man with a knife who kicked and spat at him. “Burning a religious book, although offensive, to some is not necessarily disorderly...

Small Indian grocery shops and major online fashion retailers are boycotting Turkish products ranging from chocolates, coffee, jams and cosmetics to clothing amid growing anger at Turkiye’s support for Pakistan in a confrontation with India. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan expressed public solidarity with Pakistan after India conducted military strikes in response to an attack in occupied Kashmir. Cross-border fighting continued for four days before a ceasefire was declared. On Monday, the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), which supplies 13 million mom-and-pop grocery stores, said it was launching an “indefinite and total boycott” of all Turkish-origin goods, which would affect chocolates, wafers, jams, biscuits and skincare products. Indian fashion websites owned by Walmart-backed Flipkart and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance have removed numerous Turkish apparel brands, according to three sources and a review of their websites. Flipkart’s fashion website Myntra removed listi...

A team of middle-school Pakistani students won the first prize in the Social Innovation category at the Teknofest aerospace festival held in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on Saturday. Teknofest is Türkiye’s first and only aerospace and technology festival organised in partnership with many organisations that play a critical part in the development of national technology in Türkiye, according to the information available on its website. Last year, the competition took place in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir, hosting tech competitions spanning 41 categories, all aligned with the focal points of the future. These competitions attracted applications from over 333,000 teams and more than 1 million individuals from all 81 Turkish provinces and 96 countries. “Asma Fatima and Inaya Khan, along with their teacher Gohar Khursheed, met Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan to receive their first-place award at Teknofest 2025,” Pak-Turk Maarif International Schools and Colleges announced in a post on Instagram. View th...

KARACHI: Turkish naval ship TCG BÜYÜKADA arrived at Karachi Port on a goodwill visit. According to Pakistan’s state-run news agency, the APP, upon arrival, the Turkish naval ship was warmly welcomed by officials from both the Turkish and Pakistan Navies, said a press release issued by Directorate General Public Relations (Pak Navy) on Sunday. During […]