ISLAMABAD – Pakistan stands with Turkey in its fight against terrorism inSyria, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Friday.
His remarks came at a joint news conference, the last of the three eventsscheduled in Islamabad, during Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’stwo-day visit to the country.
“Recently, attacks were carried out against Turkey [in Syria]. Pakistanalways stands with Turkey on this issue,” Khan said.
Khan thanked Erdogan for “raising voice for the oppressed Kashmiris” duringhis address in the Pakistani parliament earlier in the day.
“Eight million Kashmiris live in an open-air prison,” he said, adding thatthe decades-old dispute with rival India on Kashmir could only be resolvedbased on the UN resolutions.
Khan said a new era of trade cooperation has started between the twocountries with the signing of a string of memoranda of understanding (MoU).
Apart from Kashmir, he noted, Ankara had supported Islamabad on the issuewith the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global watchdog on terrorfunding.
FATF has put Pakistan on its gray list with three countries — Turkey,Malaysia, and China — pushing for its removal.
The Pakistani premier expressed his desire to collaborate with the Turkishmedia industry to counter rising Islamophobia.
“Besides politics, our cooperation is also necessary because Turkey has anadvanced film industry. We want to develop content with them to addressIslamophobia so that we can take a stand against the incorrect portrayal ofMuslims,” he said.
– ‘Second home’
Calling Pakistan his “second home”, Erdogan said the Turkish state andnation are standing in solidarity with the Kashmiri people.
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“Turkey stresses the Kashmir issue should be solved through dialogue on thebasis of the UN decisions and in line with the expectations of theKashmiris,” he said.
Erdogan added Turkey is ready to do “what is necessary” to improverelations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
With Pakistan, he said, Turkey has long-lasting relations in the militaryand defense sectors.
“As Turkey, we are ready to give all kinds of support on transportation,energy, tourism, cleaning, law enforcement services, education and healthsectors which would directly effect the economical and social developmentsof Pakistan,” Erdogan said.
He praised Pakistan’s staunch support to Turkey in its anti-terroroperations in Syria.
“Taking over FETO-affiliated schools in Pakistan by Turkish MaarifFoundation is a symbol of solidarity between us. On this occasion, onceagain, I would like to thank my brother Imran for the measures takenagainst the FETO structure in Pakistan,” he concluded.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeatedcoup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200injured.
FETO has a considerable presence abroad, including private schools whichserve as a revenue stream for the terror group.
These schools abroad are being transferred to the Turkish state-run MaarifFoundation.
*Burak Bir contributed to this report from Ankara.
