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CWA # 1751, 17 July 2025
Global Politics Explainer
Pakistan-Turkiye: Looking beyond the recent visits, and bolstering defence ties

  Abhiruchi Chowdhury

What happened?
On 8 July, the Foreign Minister of Turkiye Hakan Fidan and the Defence Minister Yasan Guler landed in Islamabad for a two-day visit.

On 9 July, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced setting up a Special Economic Zone to be solely utilized by Turkish businessmen in Karachi. He also referred to revitalizing the “Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad train” and expressed interest in Pakistan drawing benefits from the localization of Turkish defence industry.

Turkish Foreign Minister stated that the two countires would back each other in combatting terrorism. He praised Pakistan’s position and measures taken during the brief military confrontation with India terming it ”wisdom-oriented attitude." He reaffirmed the resolve of the two countries to surge bilateral trade volume to USD five billion.

On the same day, Defence Minister met Pakistan’s Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu in Islamabad. As per the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the two sides decided to formulate “dedicated joint working groups” for increasing progress in various areas of common interests, and take steps for increasing cooperation in new “domains of warfare.” The Turkish defence minister appreciated Pakistan Air Force, claiming that it showcased “exceptional performance” in the confrontation against India.

What is the background?
First, a brief history of Pak-Turkiye ties. In 1951, the two countries inked the “Treaty of Friendship”, which provided a solid foundation . In 1954, the two signed the Friendship and Cooperation Agreement, to strengthen economic and cultural ties. Jinnah and , Liaqat Ali Khan, had continually stressed building stronger ties with Muslim countries, especially with Turkiye. Despite the internal turbulence witnessed by both countries due to coups and military takeover, the two countries managed to maintain strong ties. Both have also been the members of Central Treaty Organization.

Second, the recent engagements and high-level visits between Turkiye and Pakistan. On 25 May, PM Sharif landed in Istanbul to embark on his two-day visit to Turkiye. He expressed gratitude for the Turkish President for backing Pakistan in the May 2025 military confrontation against India. The visit was a part of PM Sharif’s “four-nation visit” to enhance ties with the “friendly countries” which backed Pakistan against India. Earlier in February, President Erdogan visited Islamabad. He stated that the investors from his country would be urged to formulate “flagship projects” in Pakistan and highlighted how the two countries have expanded collaboration in the defence sector. During his visit, 24 agreements in areas such as trade, agriculture, energy, culture, water, science, education, defence, health, etc were inked between the two countries. On 5 July, the two leaders also met on the sidelines of the Economic Cooperation Organization summit.

Third, the growing defence cooperation. Formulating the High-Level Cooperation Council led to the institutionalization of bilateral ties between Turkiye and Pakistan in 2009. The High-Level Cooperation Council eventually evolved into the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC). In the joint declaration of HLSCC, Turkiye and Pakistan vowed to enhance “security and defence collaboration.” The declaration sought to promote the buying of defence equipment from each other and increasing cooperation amongst law enforcement agencies. The two countries also decided to formulate a Joint Working Group on Defence Industry. From 2020 to 2024, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Pakistan received 10 per cent of the arms exported by Turkiye. Pakistan has been as a big market for Turkish made drones such as Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci. The two countries are looking towards enhancing “deeper missile technology exchange.” Pakistan and Turkiye also engage in naval cooperation with the former buying MILGEM-class corvettes from the latter. With regards to their cooperation in counter-terrorism, on 01 June, the two countries initiated a “joint-intelligence operation” which resulted in arrest of a militant belonging to Islamic State at the Pak-Afghan border.    

Fourth, the bilateral trade. In 2024, it exceeded USD 1.3 billion. In 2024, Turkiye exported goods worth USD 918 million to Pakistan and imported around USD 440 million worth goods. Turkiye primarily imports cotton fabrics, apparels, synthetic dyes, PVC whereas it exports cotton, textile yarn, textile machinery, etc to Pakistan. In 2024, investments from Turkiye into Pakistan amounted to USD two billion, whereas the Pakistani direct investment into Turkiye totalled USD 700 million.

What does it mean?
First, the aim of two countries of achieving USD five billion bilateral trade will still take at least 15 years. From 2020 to 2024, the two countries were able to increase their bilateral trade volume by close to 50 per cent. To increase the volume of bilateral trade to USD five billion would mean that the two countries should see a jump in their trade by 370 per cent. Also, despite the push from the Turkish President, investors would not be too keen to invest in Pakistan considering the deteriorating security situation in the country.

Second, Pakistan would look to increase its defence purchases from Turkiye. With the kind of assistance Pakistan received from Turkiye during the military confrontation against India, the recent meeting between PAF chief and defence minister of Turkiye signifies that Turkiye could emerge as the main supplier of drones to Pakistan in future.

Third, with President Erdogan, Turkiye would continue to steer towards conservative Muslim countries like Pakistan, especially on the multilateral forums. With Turkiye’s stance on contentious issues such as Israel-Palestine conflict and J&K dispute resonating with that of Pakistan, the two countries would look to support each other in international arenas.
     
References:
Abdullah Momand, “Pakistan, Turkiye to establish special economic zone for Turkish entrepreneurs in Karachi: Dar,” Dawn, 9 July 2025
“Turkiye-Pakistan relations,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Turkiye
“Pakistan, Turkiye pledge to achieve $5bn bilateral trade target,” Dawn, 13 February 2025
“PM Shehbaz thanks Turkish President Erdogan for supporting Pakistan during escalation with India,” Dawn, 25 May 2025
“IS operative captured at Pak-Afghan border in joint Pak-Turkiye intelligence operation,” Dawn, 1 June 2025
Syed Irfan Raza, “PM warns India against violating Indus treaty,” Dawn, 5 July 2025
“Turkiye denies sending weapons to Pakistan amid rising cross border tensions with India,” The Economic Times, 29 April 2025
Shaukatullah & Sadaf Sarfaraz, “Prospects and Obstacles in the Bilateral Relations between Pakistan and Turkey,” Journal of Social Science Review, 2023
Abhishek Yadav, “Turkiye–Pakistan Defence Cooperation: Evolving Dynamics,” IDSA, 9 February 2024

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