PM Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to quake-hit Turkiye postponed

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to earthquake-hit Turkiye has been postponed due to engagements of Turkish authorities in rescue operations, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

According to details, the prime minister was scheduled to visit Turkiye to offer condolence to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over massive human and material loss due to devastating earthquake.

However, the visit has been postponed due to engagements of Turkish authorities.

It is pertinent to mention here that Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced that All Parties Conference (APC) convened by Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on terrorism has been postponed due to the latter’s earthquake-hit Turkiye visit.

“Due to the prime minister’s visit to Turkey, the APC convened on February 9 has been postponed,” she said, adding that a new date will be announced in consultation with the allies.

More than 4,000 people were killed and thousands injured when a huge earthquake struck central Turkyie and northwest Syria, pulversing apartment blocks and heaping more destruction on Syrian cities already devastated by years of war.

The magnitude 7.8 quake, which hit in the early darkness of a winter morning, worst to strike Istanbul this century. It was also felt in Cyprus and Lebanon. It was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake, magnitude 7.7.

The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) said the quake struck at a depth of 10 km (6 miles) near the southern Turkiye’s city of Kahramanmaras, while the EMSC monitoring service said the chance of a tsunami risk was being evaluated.

Last week, PM Shehbaz had called an APC on February 7, inviting all national political leaders, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, to deliberate on national challenges, including economic crisis and rising terrorism.

The premier announced the APC days after the Peshawar Police Lines carnage, which killed more than 100 people when a suicide bomber blew himself up during Zuhr prayers inside a mosque.