ANKARA, July 5: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed to further strengthen ties in economic, political and defence fields besides closer cooperation in all areas.

Mr Aziz who was in Geneva to attend the meeting of UN Secretary General’s panel on UN reforms and the ECOSOC made a brief stop over here on his way to Islamabad to meet his Turkish counterpart.

Mr Aziz and Mr Erdogan, who have had several meetings in a span of past few months on the sidelines of international conferences expressed satisfaction over the close brotherly ties between Pakistan and Turkey and vowed to further strengthen ties in the days ahead.

In an around 90 minute meeting the two leaders discussed at length particularly the evolving situation in Middle East, Iran’s nuclear issue and the overall regional and international matters.

They discussed a whole range of bilateral issues, regional and international matters and measures to further strengthen ties in all spheres.

Prime Minister Aziz also informed his counterpart about the progress on the Composite Dialogue with India and said Pakistan was desirous of resolving all outstanding issues peacefully through a dialogue.

Prime Minister Aziz also thanked the government and people of Turkey for their generous support and help to the Pakistani brethren in the wake of devastating earthquake of Oct 8.—APP