Sharif consoles Türkiye in Turkish: Pakistan stands by its brothers after floods

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif consoled Türkiye in Turkish after the Istanbul floods. The message adds to a record of mutual support between the two Muslim nations, from Türkiye’s 2023 earthquakes to Pakistan’s floods.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reached out to Türkiye in the Turkish language after floods swept through Istanbul, causing deaths and destruction. Addressing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as his “dear brother,” Sharif said Pakistan stood in solidarity with “the brotherly people of Türkiye.”

In the message, released in Turkish and English on Oct. 16, Sharif said he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life and devastation, offered condolences to the bereaved families, and wished the injured a quick recovery and the missing a safe return. Pakistan, he added, is ready to give “all the support it can” during this difficult period.

Rain unseen in Istanbul since 1942

Heavy rain struck Istanbul on Oct. 14, with 277.1 kilograms per square meter recorded in Beykoz, the highest at the city’s stations since 1942, according to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s disaster coordination center, AKOM. Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said on Oct. 15 that 2,727 people trapped by the water had been evacuated, with more than 46,000 personnel deployed in the city.

A brotherhood renewed in hard times

The two countries have a long record of standing by each other. After the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes, Pakistani search and rescue teams were among the first foreign teams to reach Adıyaman province, and Sharif traveled to Türkiye on Feb. 16-17 that year, meeting Erdoğan in Ankara and touring the quake zone in Adıyaman.

Erdoğan, Sharif and Aliyev at the Economic Cooperation Organization summit in July 2025

Türkiye, in turn, was among the first to help Pakistan during its 2022 floods, sending relief supplies by plane and train, while then-Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Environment Minister Murat Kurum toured flood-hit areas in Sindh province. In August 2025, Erdoğan phoned Sharif to offer condolences over floods in Pakistan and expressed readiness to support rescue and relief efforts.

Sharif consoles Türkiye in Turkish: Pakistan stands by its brothers after floods