Pakistan–Turkey relations are the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Turkey. Pakistan has an embassy in Ankara, a Consulate-General in Istanbul and an honorary consulate in İzmir whereas, Turkey has an embassy in Islamabad, a Consulate-General in Karachi and Lahore and honorary consulates in Peshawar, Sialkot and Faisalabad. As of 2016, in a joint communique, Pakistan and Turkey plan to strengthen their close ties into a strategic partnership.
Relations date back generations before the establishment of the two states, more precisely during the Turkish War of Independence when the Muslims of the northwestern British Raj or pre-independent Pakistan sent financial aid to the declining Ottoman Empire, which was followed by the formation of the Turkish Republic and the Independence of Pakistan. Additionally, the countries share historical Islamic ties, as the Muslims living under the British Raj deemed the Ottoman Sultan as their Caliph, and the Caliph of Islam and all Muslims. As a result, Pakistan and Pakistanis had enjoyed a positive perception in Turkey and amongst Turks for many decades. Pakistan and Turkey enjoy close cultural, historical and military relations which are now expanding into deepening economic relations as both countries seek to develop their economies. Turkey supports Pakistan's position of holding a plebiscite under the UN to decide if Kashmir wants to join Pakistan, a position which Turkish President Erdogan reaffirmed in a joint address to the Pakistani parliament and which was attended by Pakistan's military high command. Turkey supports Pakistan's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Talat Masood said that Turkey and Pakistan enjoy close relations during both democratic and military regimes, reflecting the depth of the relations between the two nations.
Pakistan's close and historical ties to Ankara have made it reluctant and resistant to recognizing the controversial Armenian genocide.Yilmaz, Ihsan, and Kainat Shakil. "Transnational Islamist Populism between Pakistan and Turkey: The Case of Dirilis—Ertugrul." European Center for Populism Studies 15 (2021).
Diplomatic relations
Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Pakistan were established in 1947, soon after Pakistan gained independence as the then largest Muslim country on world map.
Turkey established diplomatic relations soon after the independence of Pakistan in 1947 and bilateral relations became increasingly close owing to cultural, religious and geopolitical links between the two countries. Turkey was among a few countries that quickly recognized Pakistan after its creation and supported its successful bid to become a member of the United Nations. In February 1954, Pakistan and Turkey signed the Pact of Mutual Cooperation, a precursor to the Baghdad Pact. To reassure its Balkan Pact ally SFR Yugoslavia, which maintained close ties with India, Ankara emphasized that the agreement was not directed against New Delhi.
Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah expressed admiration for Turkey's founding leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and also a desire to develop Pakistan on the Turkish model of modernism. Similar ideas were expressed by the former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf, who grew up in Turkey and had received extensive military training there. Jinnah is honoured as a great leader in Turkey, and a major road of the Turkish capital Ankara, the Cinnah Caddesi is named after him, while roads in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Larkana are named after Atatürk. On 26 October 2009, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan and was the fourth world leader who spoke to the Pakistani parliament.
75th anniversary of diplomatic relations (2022) On Nov 16, 2022, Pakistan International Airlines commenced flight to Istanbul on the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Turkey.
Cultural relations
Turkish language education in Pakistan Turkish language education in Pakistan has expanded in recent years through the involvement of Turkish cultural and educational institutions and partnerships with Pakistani universities. The Yunus Emre Institute, Turkey's official cultural and language organization, has supported Turkish language courses and cultural programs in Pakistan, with reports indicating that Turkish language courses have attracted hundreds of Pakistani students in structured programs, with 400 students commencing Turkish language in 2023 alone. In addition, cooperation agreements have been signed to introduce and expand Turkish language instruction in Pakistani educational institutions, including a memorandum of understanding between Allama Iqbal Open University and the Yunus Emre Institute to promote Turkish language education in Pakistan. At the tertiary level, Turkish is offered as a subject at several universities, including the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) in Islamabad, which provides certificate, diploma, and degree programs in Turkish language and culture. The growth of Turkish language learning in Pakistan has been linked to expanding educational exchange programs, scholarship opportunities in Turkish universities, and broader cultural ties between Pakistan and Turkey.
The Pak-Turk Maarif International Schools & Colleges system educates over 13,000 students across multiple cities and teaches Turkish language and culture alongside its regular curriculum, a significant indicator that thousands of Pakistani students encounter Turkish language.
Pakistani students in Turkey In 2025, a record number of Pakistani students were selected for Türkiye Scholarships, with 166 students scheduled to begin studies in Turkey under the programme following an orientation event at the Turkish Embassy in Islamabad. The Turkish Ambassador highlighted strong educational cooperation between Pakistan and Turkey, noting that around 30,000 students apply annually and that increasing numbers of Pakistani students are pursuing fully funded undergraduate, master's, and PhD degrees through the scholarships. In addition to the Türkiye Scholarships managed by the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), students also benefit from other Turkish institutional programmes such as those offered by TÜBİTAK, Diyanet, and IHH. At the time of the announcement, approximately 5,000 Pakistani students were already studying in Turkey.
Economic relations
Pak-Turkey Strategic Economic Framework The framework aims to enhance bilateral economic cooperation with particular focus on trade and investment. Turkey and Pakistan agreed on a strategic economic framework and an action plan, Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said Friday. Speaking at Turkey-Pakistan Business Forum held in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, Pekcan said high level council with the attendance of two countries' leaders addressed trade and economic cooperation. Bilateral trade volume is aimed to exceed $1 billion in short-term, up from its current level of $850 million, she added. "I believe that bilateral investments will continue accelerating, thanks to the Turkish president's visit to Pakistan," Pekcan noted. She stressed the importance of Turkish contractors to participate in Pakistan's infrastructure and superstructure investments. "We will utilize the sources of Turk Eximbank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to finance those projects," Pekcan highlighted. The forum was organized by Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Investment and trade Turkey and Pakistan are founding members of the Economic Cooperation Organization and part of the Developing 8 Countries (D-8) organization. Both nations have worked to negotiate a preferential trading agreement, aiming to considerably increase trade and investments, especially in transport, telecommunications, manufacturing, tourism and other industries. Both governments have sought to increase the volume of bilateral trade from $690 million to more than $1 billion by 2010. Pakistani exports include rice, sesame seeds, leather, textiles, fabrics, sports goods, and medical equipment. Turkey exports to Pakistan include wheat, chickpeas, lentils, diesel, chemicals, transport vehicles, machinery and energy products. Turkish private corporations have also invested significantly in industrial and construction projects developing highways, pipelines and canals. The two countries are negotiating the Turkey-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement.
In August 2022, Pakistan and Turkey signed a Preferential Trade Agreement. Under the agreement, Turkey offered concessions to Pakistan on 261 tariff lines, which include both the agriculture and industrial sectors. On the other hand, Pakistan offered concessions to Turkey on 130 tariff lines.
Turkey has seen an increase of Pakistani tourists over the years who contribute to Turkey's tourism industry which makes a fraction of the country's economy. In 2024, up to 135,000 Pakistani tourists were reported to have visited Turkey.
Additionally, Pakistanis reside in Turkey as investors, which is another fraction of Turkey's economy. This also includes property investment by Pakistanis.
Pakistani passengers also commonly fly on Turkish Airlines both to visit Turkey and/or to transit through there when traveling abroad, thereby contributing to Turkey's transportation industry, another fraction of the Turkish economy.
Historical and cultural relations
The regions comprising both Pakistan and Turkey have been mutually influenced by contiguous Iranic, Hellenistic, Arab and Turco-Mongol cultures at various points in history. By the fifth century BCE, Persian Empires spread from Anatolia to the Indus River, introducing Persianate cultural and political traditions to these regions.
Modern-day Turkey was home to many ancient European civilizations, including that of the Ionian Greeks. The country has many traces of cultural and historical influences from the ancient Greeks, including many Greek and Hellenistic archeological sites found in the region. Pakistan was also influenced by Greek culture and civilization in the aftermath of Alexander the Great's conquest of the Indus Valley, which later led to the development of the Indo-Greek Kingdoms and Greco-Buddhism. Gandhara, a region in western Pakistan, was a major thoroughfare of Hellenistic, Iranic and Indo-Aryan contact.
Turkey became a Turkic-speaking country as a result of Seljuq conquest and Turkification of the region. Though Pakistan is not a Turkic-speaking country, its major languages, particularly Urdu, also known as Lashkari,Khan, Sajjad, Waqas Anwar, Usama Bajwa, and Xuan Wang. "Template Based Affix Stemmer for a Morphologically Rich Language." International Arab Journal of Information Technology (IAJIT) 12, no. 2 (2015). are strongly influenced by the Turkic language of the Mughals before it became the empire's official language. As a result, it has borrowed many loanwords from Chagatai. The etymology of the word "Urdu" traces itself back to Mughal rule, believed to be coined by the poet Mashafi.Garcia, Maria Isabel Maldonado. "The Urdu language reforms." Studies 26 (2011): 97.
Moreover, the common cultural influences on Pakistan and Turkey span several centuries, as many Turkic and Iranic peoples ruled vast areas of Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East.
The designs of clothing of the two countries also have common origins in Central Asia. Food is also similar to some extent such as Kebab, Pilaf and Halva although the spice content in Pakistan is different due to South Asian influence.