Turkey, Pakistan pledge to jointly work against Islamophobia

ISLAMABAD

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Pakistani President Arif Alvi on Jan. 13 stressed the importance of working closely in joint efforts against Islamophobia, in the fight against hate crimes and other forms of intolerance against Islam.

Turkey has very good relations with Pakistan, Alvi said at a meeting with Çavuşoğlu and stressed that Ankara and Islamabad should boost economic and cultural relations. Turkey’s investments in Pakistan reached over $1 billion, he said. Pakistan should take advantage of investment opportunities in Turkish businesses, the Pakistani president noted.

Çavuşoğlu, for his part, expressed Turkey’s desire to improve trade relations with Pakistan and said it would continue to encourage Turkish companies to invest in this country.

Turkey’s record in the international arena will continue to support Pakistan, he stated and thanked Pakistan’s support to Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

Çavuşoğlu is paying a three-day visit to Pakistan where he will participate in a trilateral meeting with his Pakistani and Azerbaijani counterparts.

During his visit, Çavuşoğlu was first received by the president of the country and was conferred with Pakistan’s highest state award “Hilal-i-Pakistan” by Alvi.

Pakistan and Turkey agreed to pursue a joint strategy on matters of mutual interests at the international level, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry. The agreement came during a meeting between Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Turkish counterpart.

The two countries’ top diplomats expressed satisfaction over the current bilateral relations between Islamabad and Ankara and stressed the need for the implementation of a Pakistan-Turkey Strategic Economic Framework at the earliest, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

The two foreign ministers agreed to adopt a joint strategy on issues of mutual interest at the international level and to make joint efforts to further strengthen bilateral cooperation. Qureshi and Çavuşoğlu expressed deep concerns over growing international Islamophobia and vowed to adopt a joint strategy to protect Islamic values.