Photo courtesy PID
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif departed for a two-day visit to Turkiye on Thursday (today) with “a message of unwavering solidarity and support for our Turkish brothers and sisters from the people and Government of Pakistan.”
In a posting on Twitter, the prime minister said that Pakistan considered Turkiye’s loss its own. “Natural disasters, as the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria, are beyond the capacity of any single government to handle,” he wrote. “No country, howsoever resourceful, can deal with devastation of this magnitude,” he wrote, while urging the world to extend its support for the “suffering humanity.”
Separately, in a press release, the Foreign Office said Sharif would meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara to “personally convey heartfelt condolences on behalf of the entire Pakistani nation over the loss of precious lives and the widespread damage caused by the earthquake.” It said the premier would visit earthquake-hit areas of southern Turkiye and interact with Pakistani search and rescue teams deployed in the area, as well as survivors of the earthquake.
Describing the trip as a “special gesture of solidarity and support with the people of Turkiye,” the Foreign Office said the premier would “reiterate Pakistan’s firm commitment to stand by the Turkish people during these difficult times and to continue extending all possible support to the ongoing relief effort.” According to the press release, Pakistan has already provided aid in the form of relief items and rescue teams, adding that “all available resources have been fully mobilized to help our Turkish brothers and sisters” and that the prime minister is personally overseeing the relief effort.
“Pakistan and Türkiye enjoy deep fraternal ties. Our two countries have resolutely stood by each other during every trial and tribulation,” it added.
The prime minister was originally scheduled to fly to Turkiye on Feb. 8—just two days after the earthquake struck on Feb. 6—but postponed it due to ongoing relief efforts in the disaster-struck nation. In the interim, he has established a relief fund for Ankara and urged the people of Pakistan to donate to it generously to aid their “brothers and sisters” in Turkiye.