Turkish, Azerbaijani, Pakistani leaders forge ties, address global issues

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif have met in Astana on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

The trilateral summit focused on enhancing relations among Türkiye, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan, and addressed key regional and global issues including Gaza, Cyprus, Kashmir, and Islamophobia, Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X on Thursday.

The leaders underscored the significance of the Türkiye – Azerbaijan – Pakistan trilateral cooperation, elevating it from parliamentary and ministerial levels to state leadership.

They expressed a shared commitment to expanding cooperation opportunities among their nations, affirming that stronger ties would benefit the peoples of the three countries and contribute to regional and global peace and stability, the statement said.

Importance of cooperation

During the summit, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan emphasised the need for dialogue among countries involved in conflicts, in line with principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, the statement added.

The importance of cooperation among the three countries in combating transnational threats, particularly in the fight against terrorism, and joint resolution of this matter was also reaffirmed, it said.

The statement also added that subsequent meetings of the trilateral cooperation process would be held in all the three countries, namely Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Pakistan.