Turkiye ready to play role as Pakistan’s true friend: Erdogan

ISLAMABAD: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Turkiye supported de-escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan and was ready to play its role as a committed friend of Pakistan.

According to the Prime Minister Office (PMO), President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif via telephone on Wednesday.

During the conversation, Erdogan said that the Turkish nation was praying for the success of Pakistan’s diplomatic initiatives.

India will have to pay for its grave mistake of aggression: PM

PM Shehbaz conveyed his deep appreciation of Turkiye’s solidarity and support to Pakistan, following India’s unprovoked act of aggression.

He condemned, in the strongest possible terms, India’s missile strikes that led to the martyrdom of 26 innocent men, women and children.

He shared that India’s cowardly attack on Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity had gravely endangered peace and stability in the South Asia region, and was unacceptable.

President Erdogan expressed heartfelt condolences over the loss of precious lives of Pakistani citizens. He reaffirmed Turkiye’s solidarity with the people of Pakistan, while appreciating Pakistan’s commitment to advancing peace in South Asia.

While reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to peace in the region, the PM Shehbaz reiterated Pakistan’s determination to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity with full vigor and force.

He shared that Pakistan categorically rejected India’s efforts to falsely implicate Pakistan in the Pahalgam incident, without providing any evidence.

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India, he further said, did not respond to his offer of having a neutral and transparent international investigation into the incident and instead, chose the dangerous path of aggression, and irresponsible State behavior.

President Erdogan shared that the Turkish Foreign Minister had spoken to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar earlier today and the two had discussed the current situation in detail.