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- Sharif is on regional diplomacy tour of Iran, Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan聽
- Sharif has consistently spoken up for people of Gaza while visiting each country聽
ISLAMABAD: The leaders of Pakistan, Turkiye and Azerbaijan met on Wednesday in Lachin and called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, saying Israel鈥檚 war on the besieged enclave was the clearest example of the 鈥渃risis of legitimacy鈥� of the international system.
Pakistan鈥檚 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan鈥檚 President Ilham Aliyev addressed a trilateral summit in Lachin and also attended a ceremony to mark Azerbaijan鈥檚 Independence Day.
鈥淭he martyrdom of innocent Palestinians must stop immediately and they must be given the right to self-determination as per the two-state solution,鈥� Sharif said while addressing the Independence Day event.
鈥淔reedom is a basic right and a just cause to support,鈥� the PM said, reiterating his call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Addressing the trilateral summit earlier in the day, Erdogan said the world was witnessing the international system gradually drifting into a 鈥渃risis of legitimacy.鈥�
鈥淭he clearest example of the crisis of the international system is Israel鈥檚 relentless cruelty and expansionist policies in Palestine,鈥� the Turkish leader said, adding that countries like Turkiye and Pakistan would continue defending the rights of the people of Gaza.
鈥淲e call on the entire world from here [trilateral summit] to increase pressure on the Israeli administration for establishing a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and for taking uninterrupted emergency humanitarian aid into Gaza,鈥� Erdogan said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (right), Azerbaijan鈥檚 President Ilham Aliyev (center), and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for a picture at the Independence Day of Azerbaijan in Lachin on May 28, 2025. (Government of Pakistan)
Israel launched its latest air and ground war in Gaza after a cross-border attack by the Hamas group on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people by Israeli tallies, with 251 hostages abducted into Gaza. The war has killed more than 53,900 Palestinians since, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip.
The entire 2.1 million population of Gaza is facing prolonged food shortages, with nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death, according to the World Health Organization.
Food security groups say more than 93% of children in Gaza, about 930,000, are at risk of famine. Using satellite data, the United Nations estimated in February that 69% of the structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed.