Erdogan praises PAF’s remarkable professional excellence
Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Upon his arrival, the Air Chief was received by the Turkish President at the Presidential Complex in Ankara. Meeting underscored a mutual commitment to enhance defence collaboration between the two nations.
During meeting, Chief of the Air Staff emphasized the shared values and aspirations that form foundation of deep-rooted brotherhood between Pakistan and Turkiye. He also expressed his unwavering commitment to enhance existing bilateral ties in Military-to-Military and Air Force-to-Air Force cooperation with Turkiye, especially in field of defence production and joint development of Next Generation Aerospace technology. The Air Chief reiterated his resolve to further deepen the strong bond of brotherhood that unites two nations in face of shared challenges and expressed his desire to explore future avenues of collaboration in defence and aviation sectors.
President Erdogan praised Pakistan Air Force’s progress in niche technologies such as Cyber, Space, Artificial Intelligence and Electronic Warfare, which aligns with the current PAF leadership’s focus on development of Multi-Domain Capabilities. President Erdogan acknowledged the strides attained by Pakistan’s Aerospace industry in the domains of design, research and software development capabilities over the past couple of years and urged for a more significant workshare in the software integration, design and development of Next Generation Fighter program codenamed KAAN.
He emphasized importance of sharing niche & disruptive technologies developed in Pakistan in order to bolster multi-domain capabilities of both countries. Turkish President also expressed his desire that existing Joint Working Group for Aerospace industry collaboration transitions from quarterly to monthly follow-ups, with a revitalized National Level Framework set to be signed soon.
Earlier, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu also held separate meetings with Turkish Air Force Commander General ZiyaCemalKadioglu, Chief of Turkish General Staff General MetinGurak and Minister of National Defence of Turkiye General YasarGuler, further solidifying the defence ties between the two nations.
