Pakistan and Turkey have a positive and traditionally strong relationship and have maintained extensive cultural, strategic, commercial and military cooperation over the years. Turkey established diplomatic partnerships soon after Pakistan’s inception in 1947, and bilateral relations became very close due to the similar cultural, religious, and geopolitical links. Furthermore, Turkey has also played a significant role in Pakistan’s foreign policy by enhancing security and defence cooperation with the country. In this context, Turkey has trained Pakistan Airforce officers to upgrade its F-16 fleet and purchased minor aerial weapons and components from Pakistan to further enhance military ties with each other.
Besides this, Turkey has launched many projects in Pakistan, including the Road Transport Joint Commission which aimed to work on regulating road transport between the two countries. In addition, a citizenship agreement has also been signed between both countries to facilitate the movement of tourists and business personnel. Also, both countries have started student exchange programs, conferences focused on public-private partnerships, and workshops to encourage start-ups to create people-to-people exchanges. Moreover, to strengthen further strategic and economic ties, the two sides have signed six bilateral memoranda of understanding on public debt management, SME financing, housing, public-private partnership models, especially in transportation and health, knowledge sharing in economic and social policy planning, and technical cooperation in highway engineering.
Recently, Turkey has helped Pakistan in helicopter manufacturing to enhance defence cooperation further. Also, Pakistan has offered Turkey investors to invest in the country’s hydropower and renewable energy sector to enhance bilateral cooperation in other fields. Turkey has shown interest in increasing bilateral trade with Pakistan up to $5 billion to boost further cultural, economic, diplomatic, and strategic ties. It is believed that the two countries have good potential to increase the two-way trade volume in many items. According to the Turkey investors, the two sides can enhance bilateral cooperation in machinery and parts, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, tourism and agriculture. Also, a free trade agreement between Pakistan and Turkey will be finalised soon, which will help increase the bilateral trade volume.
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