04 Feb 2020; MEMO: Turkey and Pakistan are considering a plan to make it easier to provide dual nationality for both countries’ citizens, in what would be a significant increase in relations.
The plan, which was revealed yesterday, came to light during a meeting between Pakistan’s Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmad Shah and Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul.
As the move was proposed by Yurdakul, Shah responded by saying that the draft for the law is “under consideration” and that “we hope to reach a mutual conclusion soon,” according to the Interior Ministry.
The improvement of consequent bilateral relations were also discussed, particularly that of military cooperation, with the upgrading of equipment and training operations for law enforcement being touched on.
“The Minister for Interior welcomed the initiative of introducing a patrolling force in collaboration with ICT [Islamabad Capital Territory] Police on the model of Dolphin Force introduced in Lahore,” the ministry’s statement said, referring to the elite security force in Punjab province launched in 2016 and partly trained by Turkey for the purpose of tackling street crime and ensuring security around the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Yurdakul also noted to Shah that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to make a visit to Pakistan in the near future, and that Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu is set to visit the country in February to discuss other matters with Shah.
If citizens of both Pakistan and Turkey were able to attain citizenship and dual passports of each others’ countries, it would mark the largest bilateral move in both of the young nations’ history and would add significantly to their already-strong relations. Earlier this month, Pakistan extended time to Turkey to deliver domestically-made T129 attack helicopters, which were delayed due to the sanctions the US imposed on Turkey. In May last year, Pakistan also added Turkey to its visa-free travel list, making strives in tourism and business between the two.
