Erdoğan stresses solidarity in joint press conference with Pakistan PM
ANKARA
Ankara will continue to stand in solidarity with Pakistan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 4.
"Turkey stands with Pakistan today and tomorrow, as it did yesterday, and will continue to stand with it," Erdoğan told a joint news conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara.
Erdoğan also said Turkey’s “Pakistani brothers” also stand in strong solidarity with Ankara.
Erdoğan also praised a recent Pakistani Supreme Court ruling recognizing FETÖ as a terror group.
"The declaration of FETÖ as a terrorist group by the Supreme Court in Pakistan and delivery of the [FETÖ-linked] schools to our Maarif Foundation...These are welcome steps," he added.
Turkey established the Maarif Foundation in 2016 to assume the administration of overseas schools linked to FETÖ. It also establishes more schools and education centers abroad.
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Erdoğan also announced that a trilateral meeting between Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan will be held in Istanbul after Turkey’s March 31 local elections.
The president also urged Turkish businesspeople to invest in Pakistan.
Khan, for his part, said Pakistan wants to take bilateral relations with Turkey to a "much higher" level.
The premier said from now on Pakistan and Turkey will be much closer.
Khan said he hoped the trilateral summit would contribute to peace in neighboring Afghanistan.
