Hailing longstanding bilateral ties, the Turkish President said his country is also rapidly developing its trilateral cooperation with Pakistan and Azerbaijan, Turkish media reports.
"In addition to our bilateral cooperation, we also exchanged views on important regional and international issues on our common agenda," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a joint news conference with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Istanbul.
Turkey, he said, has many successful joint cooperation projects aiming for the peace and stability of South Asia with Pakistan.
The trade volume between two countries has reached $1 billion and that it continues to expand, he added.
The Turkish leader also commented on the situation in Afghanistan as he said establishing "peace and stability in Afghanistan is essential in terms of common threats and risks, beyond our humanitarian duty for our Afghan brothers."
He said they will continue to work together to "eliminate the effects of the humanitarian crisis faced by the Afghan people."
Erdogan also pointed to the solidarity and mutual cooperation between Turkey and Pakistan and reiterated Ankara's support for Islamabad's counter-terrorism efforts.
Sharif on Friday proposed extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), inviting Turkey to join the multi-billion-dollar project.
“China and Pakistan are great friends and we are experiencing and enjoying the benefits of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative of (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping). I would suggest let this be a cooperation between China, Pakistan, and Turkey,” Sharif told the news conference, calling it a “wonderful joint cooperation.”
