Turkish President Erdogan welcomed with guard of honour at PM House

ISLAMABAD: President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday arrived at the Prime Minister’s House, where he was welcomed warmly by a guard of honour.

President Erdogan, along with First Lady Emine Erdogan and a high-level delegation, arrived in Islamabad last night and were received by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

First Lady Aseefa Bhutto, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and other cabinet members were also present upon foreign dignitaries landing at Nur Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi, state-run APP reported.

According to a Foreign Office statement, the visit of the Turkish president — accompanied by a high-level delegation, including ministers, senior officials, and corporate leaders — would last from Feb 12 to 13.

Both countries are expected to finalise multiple memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to expand economic cooperation, particularly in trade and investment.

Later today, both leaders will lead their respective delegations at the meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council to discuss bilateral cooperation in multiple fields.

Upon his arrival at the PM House, President Erdogan was warmly welcomed by PM Shehbaz at the main entrance and a formal welcome reception was held, where a contingent of armed forces presented a guard of honour, with the national anthems of both countries also played.

The Turkish president also planted a pine tree sapling in the lawns of the PM House to mark the deep-rooted friendship between the two nations. COAS General Syed Asim Munir was also present on the occasion.

A squadron of Pakistan Air Force jets performed a magnificent flypast to welcome the Turkish president.

Following the welcome reception, Prime Minister Shehbaz and President Erdogan introduced their respective delegations to each other before proceeding to the bilateral meeting.