Turkish President Erdogan's visit to Pakistan postponed: FO
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's anticipated visit to Pakistan has been postponed, Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal confirmed on Thursday during his weekly briefing, hours after a Turkish diplomat tweeted about the matter.
It had earlier been reported that the Turkish president would pay an official visit to Pakistan on October 23 to cement relations between the two countries and extend full support to Pakistan's stance on the Kashmir issue.
The FO spokesperson added that a new date for the visit is yet to be determined.
While Dr Faisal did not provide any reasons for the postponement, Turkey is currently occupied with a military offensive against Kurdish militants in Syria which has raised tensions with Washington and other Western nations.
US Vice President Mike Pence, heading a US delegation that includes Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien, arrived in Turkey on Thursday afternoon.
Pak-Turkey ties
Last week, Prime Minister Imran Khan had telephoned President Erdogan to discuss matters of mutual interest.
According to Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Prime Minister Imran had called President Erdogan to exchange views on recent developments and apprised the latter that Pakistan fully understood Turkey's concerns relating to terrorism.
The prime minister had said that, as ever, Pakistan stood in full support and solidarity with Turkey.
"We pray that Turkey’s efforts for enhanced security, regional stability and peaceful resolution of the Syrian situation are fully successful," Prime Minister Imran had told his counterpart.
On the visit of the Turkish president to Pakistan, the prime minister had said: “The government and the people of Pakistan are looking forward to accord a warm welcome to President Erdogan on his forthcoming visit to Pakistan later this month.”
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, Pakistani, Turkish and Malaysian leaders met and decided to launch a joint international English language TV channel on the pattern of BBC.
