PM set to leave for Turkey today

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is set to leave for Turkey today (Thursday) to visit the areas devastated by an earthquake, which killed over 37,000 people in bordering regions of Turkey and Syria.

The PM will offer condolences on behalf of the people of Pakistan and express solidarity with the Turk nation during his three-day visit.

Sources told The News here on Wednesday that PM Shehbaz would have a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after landing in Ankara and discuss about the relief efforts.

The two leaders will have a joint visit to the quake-hit areas and meet the victims.

The prime minister had planned to visit Turkey on February 9 soon after the earthquake, but postponed the trip and offered condolences to the Turkish President on phone.

He also made a separate phone call to the caretaker Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous and expressed similar sentiments.

Meanwhile, a delegation led by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will also visit Syria to express solidarity with the quake-hit people of the brotherly country.