Erdogan arrives in Pakistan to attend economic summit

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the Pakistani capital Islamabad Tuesday evening to attend the 13th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit, state-run Pakistan Television said in a live telecast.

The summit will be held Wednesday.

Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal received Erdogan at the Noor Khan Airbase following a 21-gun salute. First Lady Emine Erdogan also accompanied the president.

Erdogan was also presented with a guard of honor by a contingent of Pakistani armed forces. He is likely to meet heads of states and representatives from ECO member states on the sidelines of the summit.

Heads of states and representatives from Turkey, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have reached Islamabad to attend the summit, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria told Anadolu Agency.

The ECO was established in 1985 by Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan. It succeeded the Regional Cooperation for Development, also known as the RCD, which was founded in 1964 to promote cooperation among the three member states.

In 1992, the organization had welcomed seven new members: Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Afghanistan. The Treaty of Izmir, signed in 1977 and subsequently amended in 1996, was the group’s legal foundation.

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