President Erdogan to address joint session during Pakistan visit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will address the joint session of the Pakistani Parliament on February 14.

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser made the announcement during the National Assembly session on Thursday. He asked all the lawmakers to make sure their presence in the joint session of the Parliament on February 14 (Friday).

Turkish President will pay an official two-day visit to Pakistan on February 13 to 14. President Erdogan will be accompanied by a delegation of Turkish businessmen.

During his visit, Erdogan will also hold key meetings with the Pakistani leadership to enhance economic cooperation and bilateral ties with Islamabad.

This is President Erdogan’s first visit to Pakistan after his claim in December last year that Prime Minister Imran Khan had stayed away from Kuala Lumpur Summit because of Saudi Arabia's threats of economic sanctions.

The summit was criticized by Saudi Arabia for undermining the bigger Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Saudi state news agency SPA also reported that on a call with Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad, Saudi King Salman reaffirmed that issues should be discussed through the OIC.

Talking to the Turkish journalists, President Erdogan said that it was not the first time that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had put pressure on a country for doing or not doing certain things.