ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to attend President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony this weekend, said the foreign office spokesperson on Thursday, after the Turkish leader was reelected in a tightly contested political contest last month.
Erdogan emerged victorious in his country’s presidential election held last Sunday, securing his place in the office for a third decade by defeating opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in a runoff vote.
Pakistan and Türkiye are close allies and Sharif’s upcoming visit to Ankara will be his second in the ongoing year. He previously visited the Middle Eastern country in February to express solidarity with earthquake victims.
“At the invitation of Turkish President, Prime Minister Sharif will attend the inauguration ceremony of Erdogan in Ankara on 3rd June 2023,” foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zehra Baloch told reporters in a weekly news briefing.
She said Sharif’s visit would be a reaffirmation of the deep-rooted fraternal ties between Pakistan and Türkiye.
“The Prime Minister will convey warm felicitations on behalf of the Government and people of Pakistan to President Erdogan on his reelection as President of Türkiye on 28 May 2023,” she said, adding that Sharif would also invite the Turkish President to visit Pakistan later this year.
“The Prime Minister will also extend an invitation to President Erdogan to attend the 7th Meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) in Islamabad,” she added.
The HLSCC was established in 2019 and is jointly headed by the prime minister of Pakistan and the president of Türkiye. It provides overall guidance and vision for the implementation of a Strategic Economic Framework (SEF) the two nations have agreed on and plan to sign this year.
