ANKARA: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived here Wednesday on a three-day official visit to Turkey to represent Pakistan at the 8th Afghanistan-Pakistan-Turkey Trilateral Summit.

He was warmly welcomed at the Ankara Esenboga Airport by Idris Golloce, Turkish Minister for Environment and Urban Planning, Burhan Kayatork, Chairman of Turkey-Pakistan Parliamentary Friendship Group in the Turkish Grand National Assembly and other high ranking officials.

Minister for Defence and Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, Chairman Board of Investment Miftah Ismail Ahmad, parliamentarians and other high ranking military and civil officials were accompanying the premier.

Prime Minister Sharif will represent Pakistan at the Afghanistan-Pakistan-Turkey Trilateral Summit along with President Hamid Karzai and President Abdullah Gul, a press release said.

The trilateral summit provides a unique platform for furthering high level political dialogue, security cooperation and development partnership among the three countries for promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

The Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral process was launched in 2007 and the last summit was also held in Ankara in December 2012.

The theme of the 8th Trilateral Summit is “Sustainable Peace in the Heart of Asia”.

The summit is taking place in the backdrop of important political and security transitions in Afghanistan, including presidential and provincial council elections being held on April 5 this year and the draw-down of Nato forces by the end of 2014.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan will also visit Istanbul and meet with leading Turkish businessmen and investors.