President Erdogan calls PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday night called Prime Minister Imran Khan in which the two leaders agreed that the momentum of high-level exchanges would continue to transform bilateral relations into a strategic economic partnership.

The two leaders felicitated each other on the advent of the holy month of Ramazan and discussed issues of mutual interest including further strengthening of bilateral relations in all areas, says the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a statement. In the regional context, the prime minister emphasized a negotiated political settlement of the Afghan conflict ahead of recently announced planned US withdrawal.

The prime minister highlighted that Pakistan had fully supported and facilitated the US-Taliban Peace Agreement and subsequent initiation of intra-Afghan negotiations. The prime minister stressed that the intra-Afghan negotiations provided a historic opportunity which must be seized by the Afghan leadership to achieve an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement. Appreciating Turkey’s role, the prime minister said Pakistan would continue to support all efforts for a political solution to the Afghan issue.