Shehbaz, Erdogan Push Middle East Peace Window at Antalya

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, with both leaders calling for urgent use of the current diplomatic opening to secure durable peace in the Middle East. The meeting, attended by Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Information Minister Ataullah Tarar on the Pakistani side, and Turkish FM Hakan Fidan among others, covered updates on Pakistan's ongoing mediation efforts, including extending the ceasefire and resuming talks toward a formal peace agreement. The two governments also agreed to convene the eighth High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting in Ankara later this year, with both sides pledging to accelerate implementation of existing bilateral initiatives and expand economic engagement. On the same sidelines, US President Trump's Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, met Shehbaz and expressed Washington's interest in deepening engagement with Pakistan on counter-terrorism, economic development, and shared multilateral priorities. Shehbaz's broader Antalya schedule included meetings with the Qatari Emir, the Syrian, Azerbaijani, and Kazakhstani presidents, and several foreign ministers. Dar separately held bilateral meetings with counterparts from Austria, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Cyprus, and Singapore, with multiple officials publicly acknowledging Pakistan's role in brokering the initial ceasefire and facilitating dialogue.