On 28 May 2025, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif participated in the Pakistan-Turkiye-Azerbaijan Trilateral Summit alongside Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Ilham Aliyev.
The summit reaffirmed the commitment made by the three brotherly countries in 2021.
In 2021, the three countries signed the Baku Declaration in a ceremony held at the Azerbaijani Parliament.
The joint declaration emphasizes the need to strengthen cooperation among the three countries, based on cultural and historical ties, mutual respect and confidence.
It also emphasizes the role of Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Pakistan in building peace, stability and development at regional and global levels.
In his address at the Summit, Premier Shehbaz highlighted the role played by Turkiye and Azerbaijan during the recent India-Pakistan smart war.
Both brotherly countries provided unwavering support to Pakistan against Indian aggression.
On the issue of Kashmir, Turkiye and Azerbaijan fully support the Pakistani stance and reject the Indian occupation of the State.
On its part, Islamabad fully supports Baku and Ankara over Karabakh and Northern Cyprus.
Kashmir, Karabakh and Northern Cyprus have commonalities and their resolution is needed for peace in the region.
All three brotherly countries desire resolutions of these issues for a larger regional peace and stability.
Indeed, this trilateral forum aims at solidarity and peace based on 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.
” Indeed, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Turkiye are in the process of fortifying their triangular relationship at all three levels; strategic, political and economic.
Besides, there is an ongoing process for enhancement of people to people contact and diplomatic ties between three brother Muslim states of three regions.
Both Turkiye and Azerbaijan have supported Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute by declaring Indian occupation of a major portion of Jammu and Kashmir as illegal and against international law.
The triangular relationship was further strengthened during the prolonged struggle of Azerbaijan against Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh until it was taken over by the brave military of Azerbaijan in 2020 whose impacts are still felt in the Caucasus region.
Indeed, Pakistan and Azerbaijan having cultural and religious commonality enjoy good relations in spheres of politics, economy and military.
Modern relations between the two states were established when Azerbaijan became independent following the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991.
Pakistan was among the first countries along with Turkiye to recognize Azerbaijan, and extended assistance of US$ 1 million and trained their professionals in different domains.
Pakistan is one of the few countries to recognize Khojaly Massacre, carried out by Armenia against Azerbaijani people, as genocide.
Pakistan had supported Azerbaijan during the first war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pakistan along with Turkiye supported Azerbaijan during the second war over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, once Azerbaijan re-captured its land from Armenia.
On its part, Azerbaijan has wholeheartedly supported Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir resolution.
Indeed, there have been striking similarities between issue of Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh like; a) Illegal occupation and aggression against unarmed local population, b) Obvious defiance of international law, c) Non-implementation of UN Resolutions, d) Displacement of population, e) Changes in the demography of the occupied territories f) Continued human rights violations in the occupied areas and g) Desecration of religious sites, destruction of historical buildings and cultural heritage by Armenia and India.
Pakistan and Turkiye have had a very strong and historical relationship even before Pakistan came into being.
This relationship continued enhancing with each passing day.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has further cemented this relationship during his tenure as the Head of State and Head of Government.
He was elected for the third time in Turkiye’s presidential elections in May 2023.
His victory was very well received by the Pakistani masses and government.
He is a great and bold leader of the Muslim Ummah.
The Turkish President has always shown his concern over the situation in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
He once said; “Our brothers and sisters in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir are suffering because of escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC), which can no longer be ignored.
” Turkiye always supported the Pakistani stance on the Kashmir dispute.
The issue needs to be settled as per the wishes of the people of Kashmir under UN resolutions.
Indeed, education has given the Turkish nation an awareness, which brought a renaissance among the post Ottoman Turkiye.
Today, Turkiye has the highest standard of education, matching the most advance countries of the world.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at the Baku Summit; “In today’s unpredictable and volatile world, political security, architectures, connectivity, alignments and emerging technologies are shaping the new reality.
In such a situation, Pakistan is very fortunate to have sincere brothers like Turkiye and Azerbaijan who have stood together with us as impregnable rocks and whom we can trust without a second thought.”
Indeed, apart from political and economic ties, Pakistan, Turkiye and Azerbaijan are heading towards a strategic partnership with “strategic development” of their countries and to work on “shared strategic goals across a vast geography,” as envisioned by President Aliyev.
President Erdoğan made a visionary statement by saying that, with a combined population of approximately 350 million and an economic size of $1.5 trillion; “I would like to particularly emphasize that we stand behind each and every step toward transforming our relations into a strategic partnership.”
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad. (drmkedu@gmail.com)
