Speaking at a trilateral summit with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Azerbaijan’s Lachin on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated Pakistan on achieving a cease-fire with neighboring India. Erdoğan said Türkiye was ready to contribute to any efforts to make peace last between the two countries, which came to the brink of an all-out conflict recently.
Erdoğan hailed the “solidarity and joint action capacity” of the three countries, adding that in the face of difficulties, those were “necessity, not a choice.”
The president, who received Sharif in Istanbul earlier this week, flew to Azerbaijan early Wednesday to inaugurate Lachin Airport with Aliyev. They were later joined by Sharif, who is on a four-country trip.
The president emphasized that Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Pakistan were three brotherly countries sharing the same ideals based on mutual love, respect and trust and flourished with “the same climate of civilization.” “Bonds between our countries, which host about 350 million people and an economic capacity of $1.5 trillion, are growing stronger. I would like to emphasize that we support every step to convert our unity into a strategic partnership,” Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan spoke of his earlier meeting with Sharif, adding that they reviewed their cooperation under the high-level Strategic Cooperation Council during that meeting. “We agreed upon enhancing deep-rooted historic and social ties between Türkiye and Pakistan. In this context, I would like to underline that we are pleased to see tensions between Pakistan and India concluded with a cease-fire. I congratulate my brother Shahbaz and Pakistan authorities for their levelheaded stance through the tensions,” he said.
The president said the three countries stood at the intersection of Eurasia, in a strategic location and faced simultaneous challenges from security threats to economic woes, energy and food crises in their region.
He added that the foreign ministers of the three countries would work in the near future to institutionalize their trilateral cooperation.
Azerbaijani President Aliyev on Wednesday said that his country, as well as Türkiye and Pakistan, have stood for sovereignty, territorial integrity and justice.
“Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Pakistan have always stood for sovereignty, territorial integrity and justice,” Aliyev said at the summit. He said today’s summit has “great symbolic meaning,” adding that the first such summit was held in July last year and that he is certain this tradition will continue. Aliyev also touched on energy relations, stating that due to Azerbaijan and Türkiye’s cooperation, the energy map of the region, as well as the wider geography, has changed. “Our countries have played an important role in ensuring energy security and today, large-scale projects have been launched in the direction of the production and export of renewable energy. “At the same time, the transport routes connecting Asia and Europe through Azerbaijan and Türkiye are strategically important,” he said. He added they are confident that Pakistan’s close participation in this initiative, through developing a multimodal freight route, will further boost cooperation.
“Developments taking place in our region” show how important solidarity between the three countries is. Türkiye will jointly contribute to projects such as the (Türkiye-Azerbaijan-Pakistan) Development Road, the Middle Corridor and the North-South Transport Corridor, Erdoğan said. “With the liberation of Azerbaijani lands that were under occupation for 30 years, we now hope for the region to become the center of stability, prosperity and development,” he said.
Regarding Gaza, Erdoğan said, “We are determined to continue defending the rights of innocent people who were massacred and vowed to stand against attempts to disrupt the tranquility of the region. He also expressed Türkiye’s call “on the world to increase pressure on Israel to establish a permanent cease-fire in Gaza” and “to ensure delivery of urgent humanitarian aid.”
Earlier, Erdoğan held a one-on-one meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Azerbaijan, which celebrates its Independence Day on May 28.
For his part, Sharif heaped praise on displays of solidarity. “Seeing the flags of Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Pakistan flying in beautiful Lachin fills our hearts with immense joy and pride,” he told the summit. “We met in a trilateral format last year in Astana and held very productive discussions on issues of mutual interest. Today, in magnificent Lachin, we are determined to elevate our trilateral partnership to a new level in line with the will of our peoples,” the Pakistani prime minister added.
Sharif said Islamabad wants peace in South Asia through an amicable solution to the long-simmering Kashmir dispute and water issues with neighboring India.
He said they desired a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the “concerned” U.N. Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people. Commenting on the unilateral suspension of the 1960 water-sharing agreement, the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), by New Delhi last month, Sharif said the Indus water was a “lifeline for Pakistan’s 240 million people.” He said Pakistan would be willing to discuss all issues, along with the promotion of trade with India. “We want peace in the region and that requires talks on the table on issues which need urgent attention and amicable resolution, that is issue of Kashmir according to U.N. Security Council resolutions and according to aspirations of Kashmiris,” Sharif said. India, he said, “tries to weaponize” Indus Waters Treaty which is lifeline for 240 million people, calling it the “most unfortunate” move by India which tries to “threaten” Pakistan by stopping flow of water to Pakistan. “We are making proper arrangements to ensure that India never does it,” he maintained. New Delhi suspended the decadeslong treaty last month in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which resulted in the death of 26 people. India claimed the attack had “cross-border links” to Pakistan, but Islamabad denied and offered a neutral probe.
Sharif thanked “sincere brothers” Türkiye and Azerbaijan for their support to Pakistan during recent hostilities with India, in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. “Pakistan is fortunate to have sincere friends like Türkiye and Azerbaijan, which stood together with us as impregnable rocks whom we can trust without a second thought,” said Sharif. He said the “historical” relationship between the three allies has been further strengthened as “we have stood by each other, whether it be on Karabakh, Kashmir, or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Our strength lies in our solidarity and mutual respect.” “The world we live in faces numerous grave challenges, including armed conflict, climate change, diseases and economic crises. This is why the three of us have assembled here today, opting for compassion while rejecting conflict. We are confident that patience and wisdom will ultimately usher in peace and prosperity,” Sharif said.
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