Pakistani premier to visit Turkey on September 16

"Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will be visiting Turkey from September 16 to 18, during which he will meet the Turkish leaders," Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Aizaz Chaudry told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

The aim of the visit, Chaudry said, will be to promote bilateral cooperation, particularly in the areas of trade, energy and investment.

"The prime minister will meet Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan," he added. "He will also meet Turkish businessmen and investors."

The FO spokesman said further details of the visit were still being worked out.

Chaudry dismissed as "untrue" media reports that the two premiers would discuss the possibility of relocating the office of the Afghan Taliban from Qatari capital Doha to Turkey.

"This is mere speculation," he said. "No such talks are planned."

- Turkish expertise-

Diplomatic experts believe Sharif's upcoming Turkey visit will help promote economic development and cooperation between the two heavyweight Muslim states.

"This is a very important visit vis-à-vis the promotion of economic and trade relations between the two countries, especially in connection with municipal and social development in Pakistan," Shaukat Piracha, an Islamabad-based international affairs expert, told AA.

Turkey is already assisting the government of Punjab, Pakistan's largest and richest province, in the municipal and transport sectors.

A few months ago, Pakistan introduced its first world-class metro bus service in the northeastern city of Lahore, its second largest city, with technical and structural assistance from Turkey.

"Turkey is also assisting the Punjab government to develop a municipal system of international standards throughout the province," noted Piracha. "The municipal and metro bus system could be replicated in the rest of Pakistan as a result of this visit."

Currently, bilateral trade between Pakistan and Turkey stands at over $1 billion, largely in Pakistan's favor. Over the past decade, bilateral trade volumes grew by more than seven-fold, according to official figures.

Construction is the leading sector for Turkish investors in Pakistan. Since the early 1990s, the total value of projects completed or undertaken by Turkish contractors in Pakistan has exceeded $1.8 billion.

In 2005, Turkey's housing development administration assisted in the construction of 5,000 homes in earthquake-affected areas of Pakistan's Azad Kashmir and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

Turkish companies are becoming increasingly active in Pakistan's energy sector as well. In 2009, Turkish firms built Pakistan's first wind turbines.

A senior FO official, wishing not to be named, said that during Shari's upcoming visit to Turkey the two countries were expected to sign a deal by which Turkey would provide technical assistance to Pakistan to ensure the effective use of civil law-enforcement agencies to counter terrorism.

Piracha believes Pakistan can learn from Turkey's experience in this regard.

"Turkey has successfully overcome terrorism with the effective use of civil law enforcement agencies rather than the army," he said. "Pakistan can learn from this experience."

By Aamir Latif – Anadolu Agency