Army chief Munir visits Turkey for defence, security talks

By Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s top military officer, spent two days working through a tightly choreographed itinerary in the Turkish capital this week — an airport reception, a closed-door meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a medal ceremony, and a solemn stop at the tomb of modern Turkey’s founder — in a visit both governments cast as evidence of how close the two countries’ militaries have become.

Munir, who holds the dual posts of chief of defence forces and chief of army staff, arrived in Ankara on Monday for a series of “important” meetings with Turkey’s military and political leadership. By Tuesday, the outlines of that itinerary had begun to emerge, first through social media posts from the Turkish presidency and the Turkish military, and later through a formal account released by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations, the military’s media wing.

Munir’s arrival was marked by a guard of honour from a tri-services contingent of the Turkish armed forces, according to the Turkish embassy in Islamabad. His meeting with Erdogan took place behind closed doors at the Ankara airport, Reuters reported, and drew a striking assembly of Turkish officials: Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, the chief of the Turkish General Staff, General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, and Ibrahim Kalin, the director of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization. The Turkish presidency’s account on X included a photograph of Erdogan and Munir together.

The Turkish embassy in Pakistan, in its own post, framed the visit as part of a relationship that has only strengthened over time. “Rooted in brotherhood, mutual trust and a shared strategic vision, the enduring defence and military cooperation between Turkiye and Pakistan continues to grow stronger,” the embassy wrote.

Pakistan’s own account of the visit, issued Tuesday through ISPR, filled in much of what the earlier social media posts had left out. It said Munir also called on Turkey’s minister of national defence, Yasar Guler, and that the discussions with both Guler and Erdogan centered on regional security and what the statement called matters of mutual interest. At the headquarters of the Turkish General Staff, Munir was welcomed with a separate guard of honour before sitting down with Bayraktaroglu for what ISPR described as a detailed meeting on regional security and professional matters. Bayraktaroglu capped that meeting by presenting Munir with the Turkish Armed Forces Distinguished Service Medal, an honour Pakistan’s statement said recognised his role in strengthening military cooperation between the two countries.

Munir also travelled to the headquarters of the Turkish Land Forces, where he was received by its commander, General Metin Tokel — a name already familiar to Pakistan’s military leadership. Tokel had visited Pakistan last month, meeting with Munir to discuss regional security dynamics and ways to deepen bilateral defence cooperation, according to ISPR, and also held separate meetings with Pakistan’s navy and air force chiefs during that trip.

Later in the visit, Munir travelled to Anıtkabir, the mausoleum in Ankara where Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, is buried. He laid a wreath there, a gesture of paying respect to Ataturk’s leadership and to the historical bonds between the two countries.

The visit unfolded against a backdrop of defence and economic cooperation that has been building for years. Turkish shipyards are currently building corvette warships for the Pakistan Navy, part of a defence relationship between the two countries that spans decades. Turkey has also upgraded a number of F-16 fighter jets belonging to the Pakistan Air Force and has shared drone technology with Islamabad. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Erdogan in Istanbul, where the two leaders reaffirmed their countries’ ties and pledged to expand bilateral trade to $5 billion.

The Ankara trip also comes amid quieter talks about a broader defence arrangement involving a third country, Saudi Arabia. In January, Pakistan’s minister for defence production, Raza Hayat Harraj, told Reuters that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey had drafted a defence agreement after nearly a year of negotiations, an arrangement he said was separate from the bilateral defence accord Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had announced the year before. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan later acknowledged that talks over a possible three-way defence pact had taken place, though he said no agreement had been signed. Asked about the prospect of such an alliance at a press conference in Istanbul, Fidan pointed to the need for broader regional cooperation and trust, saying regional issues could be resolved if the countries involved could “be sure of each other.”