ISLAMABAD: A Turkish naval ship, TCG Büyükada, has arrived in Pakistan on a visit to strengthen maritime cooperation between the two countries, Pakistan Navy said on Sunday.
Pakistan and Türkiye share close diplomatic, economic and defense ties. Turkish defense firms have helped modernize Pakistan’s Agosta 90B-class submarines and supplied military equipment, including drones, to Islamabad.
The two countries regularly hold joint military exercises, most recently the Ataturk-XIII drills, which involved combat teams from the two special forces and aimed to enhance interoperability between them.
Upon arrival at the Karachi port, the Turkish naval ship was warmly welcomed by officials from both navies, according to the Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) of Pakistan Navy.
“During its stay in Karachi, the crew of TCG Büyükada will engage in a series of professional interactions with Pakistan Navy personnel,” the DGPR said. “The visit aims to enhance mutual understanding and strengthen maritime cooperation between the two navies.”
The development comes at a time of heightened tensions between Pakistan and India over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists on April 22. New Delhi has blamed the attack on Pakistan. Islamabad has denied involvement and called for a credible international probe into it.
Since the attack, both nations have traded fire over their de facto in Kashmir, while diplomats have exchanged barbs and both countries have expelled citizens and ordered their land border shut. Both Pakistani and Indian forces have conducted military drills in a show of their military might, while Pakistan has Pakistan has test-fired a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 kilometers, amid fears India may conduct limited strikes against Pakistan on the pretext of the Kashmir attack.
With Islamabad engaged in active diplomacy to project its stance over the issue, Turkish Ambassador Dr. Irfan Neziroglu met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and expressed Ankara’s solidarity with Pakistan, Sharif’s office said on Saturday.
“The goodwill visit of TCG Büyükada stands as a testament to the ever-strengthening maritime collaboration between Pakistan and Türkiye,” the DGPR said. “It reflects the deep-rooted mutual trust and strategic partnership between the two brotherly nations, anchored in centuries-old historical and cultural ties.”

QUETTA: A separatist militant group in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday claimed an attack on a prison van in which five police officers were taken hostage.
Between 30 and 40 gunmen blocked a major highway that cuts across Balochistan province overnight on Friday, intercepting a prison van being transported by a police team, a police official said.
“The prisoners were released later but five policemen have been kidnapped,” a senior police official in the area, who was not authorized to speak to the media, told AFP on Sunday.
He said a rescue operation was underway.
The gunmen also set fire to government buildings and a bank in the area.
A senior government official, who asked not to be named, said that two gunmen were killed by security forces.
Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces, foreign nationals, and non-locals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most active group in the region, claimed the assault in Kalat district.
The BLA has previously targeted energy projects receiving foreign financing — most notably from China.
In March, the group seized a train, taking hundreds of passengers hostage and killing off-duty security forces in a three-day seige.