Giving further proof of strengthening ties between Turney and Pakistan, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Sunday that his country has started constructing four warships for Pakistan.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the beginning of the work on the warship, which has been named MILGEM, Erdogan said: "I hope that Pakistan benefits from the naval warship that was being provided to it by Turkey."
According to reports, the warship will be 99 metres long, will have a displacement capacity of 2,400 tonnes and will be able to travel at a speed of 29 nautical miles. The first two corvettes will be manufactured in Turkey and the other two will be made in Pakistan through technology transfer.
The four warships will be made through a deal signed by the Pakistan Navy in July 2018 for the acquisition of four MILGEM-class ships from Turkey.
Along with Erdogan, Pakistan Navy Commander Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi was also present at the ceremony on Sunday, where the duo cut the first metal plate of the first of the four MILGEM Ada class.
Erdogan also took the opportunity to commission a new ship into the Turkish Navy.
The ties between Pakistan and Turkey have been evidently strong over the past week. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced a joint venture between his country, Turkey and Malaysia, through which a joint English channel will be launched. The channel will teach the world about the history of Islam and remove the misconceptions around the religion that are being propagated through Islamophobia.
Pakistan PM took to Twitter to say: "President Erdogan, PM Mahatir and myself had a meeting today in which we decided our 3 countries would jointly start an English language channel dedicated to confronting the challenges posed by Islamophobia and setting the record straight on our great religion – Islam."
He added, "Misperceptions which bring people together against Muslims would be corrected; issue of blasphemy would be properly contextualized; series and films would be produced on Muslim history to educate/inform our own people and the world; Muslims would be given a dedicated media presence."
