Days after a Turkish Air Force C-130 aircraft from Ankara landed in Karachi setting tongues wagging amid India-Pakistan tensions, a warship of Turkish Navy called at Karachi port on Sunday. TCG Büyükada, the second ship of the Ada-class ASW corvettes of the Turkish Navy, is expected to stay in Karachi till May 7.
The arrival of the ship comes a day after Turkish Ambassador Dr Irfan Neziroglu met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to express "Ankara’s solidarity with Pakistan", according to Pakistani media.
The official version of the Pakistani Navy is that TCG Büyükada's visit is aimed at strengthening the maritime cooperation between the two countries. It aims to increase mutual understanding between the navies of the two countries and strengthen maritime cooperation, the statement added.
Turkish Naval Ship TCG BÜYÜKADA arrives at Karachi Port in Pakistan. Turkish Foreign Policy Experts want to play it down calling it a usual port visit after similar visit to Oman. Pakistan calls it a goodwill visit by Turkish Navy. The timing makes people question the motive. pic.twitter.com/YcFWrUSgSs
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) May 4, 2025
However, the Pakistani media were quick to interpret the visit of TCG Büyükada as a symbol of deep defence cooperation between the two countries in the wake of the India-Pakistan tensions. The ship had made a port visit to Oman between April 29 and May 1 before it called on Karachi. Before that, the ship had sailed to Malaysia. Turkish authorities had earlier stated that the visit was just a "goodwill" one.
Both nations had deep defence ties with them recently holding a joint military drill 'Ataturk-XIII' which saw combat teams from the two special forces practice interoperability. Pakistan has also signed a pact with Turkey in 2022 which will see Turkey manufacture four MİLGEM Corvettes for the Pakistani Navy. While two ships will be built at Istanbul, the remaining two will be made at the Karachi Shipyard in Pakistan. The construction activities of the first ship, PNS Babur, have been completed.
Earlier, the landing of Turkish Air Force C-130 aircraft in Karachi had stoked rumours that the aircraft was carrying "military cargo", hinting that Turkey could be supplying weapons to Islamabad against India. However, Ankara issued a swift statement wherein it said the news was not true while slamming the disinformation in social media. "A cargo plane from Türkiye landed in Pakistan for refuelling. It then continued on its route," the statement said, adding that "speculative news made outside of the statements of authorised persons and institutions should not be relied upon."
