Turkiye | Pakistan

The Libyan army’s chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, died in a plane crash on Tuesday after leaving Turkiye’s capital Ankara as well as four others that were on the jet as well. “This followed a tragic and painful incident while they were returning from an official trip from the Turkish city of Ankara. This grave loss is a great loss for the nation, for the military institution, and for all the people,” Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said in a statement. According to the Washington DC-based Stimson Centre, Libya has effectively split into two virtual quasi-states since 2014. The west is ruled by the Government of National Unity (GNU), of which Dbeibah is the prime minister, while the east is run by Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar’s Libyan Armed Forces. Dbeibah said the commander of Libya’s ground forces, the director of its military manufacturing authority, an adviser to the chief of staff, and a photographer from the chief of staff’s office were also on the aircraft. Turkish Interi...

The Pakistan Navy on Sunday commissioned its second Milgem-class corvette, PNS Khaibar, at a ceremony held at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard in Turkiye, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The commissioning ceremony of a Pakistan Navy Milgem class ship, PNS Khaibar, has been held at Istanbul Naval Shipyard, where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasised the need for enhanced mutual collaboration in the field of defence production between the two countries. The warship is the second of four Milgem class corvettes, the contract for which was signed with ASFAT Inc, a Turkish state-owned defence contractor firm in 2018. Under this contract, two ships were to be constructed in Turkiye and the remaining two ships in Pakistan. “The commissioning of PNS Khaibar marks the completion of the construction of both ships in Turkiye,” the military’s media affairs wing said in a statement on Sunday. President Erdogan was the chief guest on the occasion while Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf also attended the ceremony, it added. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement, Erdogan “termed the brotherly relations between Pakistan and Turkiye as exemplary” while addressing...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Turkiye on Tuesday signed five memorandum of understanding (MoUs) and deeds of assignment (DoAs) for oil and gas exploration and agreed to expand bilateral cooperation to mining and equity participation in the power sector. These documents were signed during the ongoing visit of a Turkish delegation led by Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar that had engagements with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik and Power Minister Awais Leghari on Tuesday. Prime Minister Sharif witnessed the ceremony for the exchange of MoUs and agreements between Turkiye and Pakistan in the field of petroleum exploration, including the deed of assignment for Eastern Offshore Indus-C, the Petroleum Concession agreement Ziarat North Block, the Petroleum Concession agreement Sukhpur-II Block, the Petroleum Concession agreement Deep C block and the Offshore Deep F Block. The premier underscored the historic and f...

Turkiye on Thursday refuted claims made by Indian media outlets claiming that Ankara had a link to the car blast in Delhi earlier this week. A day prior, the Indian government confirmed that it was treating a car blast that killed 12 people and wounded at least 20 others in Delhi as a “terror incident” and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice as swiftly as possible. In a statement, Turkiye’s Directorate of Communications rejected the allegations and displayed screenshots of social media posts by two Indian outlets, which claimed Ankara had a “role in radicalising sleeper cells against India, [the] Turkish government is providing logistical, diplomatic and financial help to all terrorist groups across the world”. “The deliberate reports in certain Indian media outlets … are part of a malicious disinformation campaign aimed at damaging bilateral relations between the two countries,” Ankara’s statement read. Turkiye rejected acts of terror “regardless of where or by whom they are committed” and noted its c...

Turkiye on Wednesday said all 20 people onboard a military cargo plane that crashed in Georgia on its return from Azerbaijan had died. The plane had taken off from Ganja airport in western Azerbaijan on Tuesday afternoon but crashed shortly after crossing the border into eastern Georgia, the defence ministry said after the incident. It said there were 20 people on board, including the flight crew. “Our heroic comrades-in-arms were martyred on November 11, 2025 due to the crash of our C-130 military cargo aircraft, which had taken off from Azerbaijan to return to Turkiye,” Defence Minister Yasar Guler said in a statement posted on his X account alongside 20 photographs of those who died. Turkiye has not said what caused the accident but dramatic footage taken by eyewitnesses and published by Azerbaijani media appeared to show the plane spinning horizontally alongside several bits of debris as it fell. Georgia’s interior ministry had confirmed the plane went down in the Sighnaghi area, “about five kilometres (3...

Pakistan says it deeply appreciates the sincere efforts made by brotherly Turkiye and Qatar to mediate differences between Islamabad and Kabul on the core issue of terrorism.

PM says ties with Turkiye entered new era

Pakistan on Tuesday expressed solidarity with the people of Turkiye as 6.

Anxious to bolster its air power, Turkiye has proposed to European partners and the US ways it could swiftly obtain advanced fighter jets as it seeks to make up ground on regional rivals such as Israel, sources familiar with the talks say. NATO-member Turkiye, which has the alliance’s second-largest military, aims to leverage its best relations with the West in years to add to its ageing fleet 40 Eurofighter Typhoons, for which it inked a preliminary agreement in July, and later also US-made F-35 jets, despite Washington sanctions that currently block any deal. Strikes by Israel — the Middle East’s most advanced military with hundreds of US-supplied F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighters — on Turkiye’s neighbours Iran and Syria, as well as on Lebanon and Qatar, unnerved Ankara in the last year. They laid bare key vulnerabilities, prompting its push for rapid air power reinforcement to counter any potential threats and not be left exposed, officials say. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has sharply criticised Israel’s a...

Pakistan and Turkiye have underscored their shared resolve to further strengthen cooperation for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Muslim world and beyond.

Turkiye has decided to bar Israeli vessels from using its ports, forbid Turkish ships from using Israeli ports and impose restrictions on planes entering Turkish airspace, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday. He provided few details in comments to parliament, which appeared to summarise steps that Turkiye has already taken against Israel over the conflict in Gaza or has started to implement. Turkiye on Friday fiercely criticised Israel’s offensive in Gaza and accused it of committing genocide in the Palestinian enclave and halted all trade with Tel Aviv, called for international measures against it and urged world powers to stop their support. Sources told Reuters last week that Turkish port authorities had also started informally requiring shipping agents to provide letters declaring that vessels are not linked to Israel and not carrying military or hazardous cargo bound for the country. A source had also said that Turkish-flagged ships would be prohibited from calling at Israeli ports. “We have tota...

ISLAMABAD - Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkiye and Kuwait on Saturday expressed deep sorrow over loss of lives caused by devastating floods in Pakistan.

A 6.1-magnitude quake struck Sindirgi in western Turkiye on Sunday, the Turkish disaster management agency (AFAD) said. The quake was felt across several cities in the west of the country, including Istanbul and the tourist hotspot of Izmir, said officials, who are yet to comment on any potential damages or deaths. Several buildings collapsed in the Balikesir province after the quake, according to images broadcast by Turkish media. The quake hit at 7:53 pm (9:53pm PKT), with a 4.6-magnitude aftershock following several minutes later, according to AFAD. The quake was also registered by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which recorded the quake and the aftershock at a depth of 10 kilometres. An interactive map shows the location of the earthquake and an aftershock in Turkiye. — United States Geological Survey “All AFAD teams and the relevant institutions have immediately begun searches on the ground. No undesirable event has been flagged up till now,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X. Turkey ...

ISLAMABAD - Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Nav­eed Ashraf, undertook an official vis­it to Turkiye, during which he was conferred the prestigious Legion of Merit award by the Turkish Armed Forces.

Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Naveed Ashraf was conferred Turkiye’s highest military award — titled Legion of Merit of the Turkish Armed Forces — for his efforts towards “defence and maritime cooperation” between the two nations, the Pakistan Navy said on Tuesday. Pakistani armed forces routinely conduct joint military exercises with other nations to increase combat readiness and identify problems in logistics, training, and current military doctrine. Pakistan Navy, in its statement, said the commander of Turkish Navy, Admiral Ercument Tatlioglu, “presented [the] award to Adm Naveed Ashraf in recognition of his efforts to strengthen defence & maritime coop b/w the two countries”. The award ceremony was held at the headquarters of the Turkish Naval Forces, where he was also given a guard of honour. Pakistan’s naval chief called upon Turkiye’s Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Chief of General Staff Metin Gurak, and the Commander of the Turkish Navy Fleet, Admiral Kadir Yildiz. The two sides discussed coll...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Turkiye yesterday reaffirmed their strong and united stance on the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Palestinian territory continues to escalate.

Pakistan and Turkiye on Monday reaffirmed their shared commitment to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, unimpeded humanitarian assistance, and coordinated global efforts for a just and lasting peace in the region.

Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan on Tuesday reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering solidarity with Turkiye, praising the Turkish people’s courage and resilience during the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016 – a defining moment he described as a “beacon of democratic will and national.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Turkiye yesterday reiterated their shared commitment to enhancing bilateral cooperation across a broad spectrum of sectors, including defence, trade, energy, education, infrastructure, and culture.