POLITICAL ISSUES
IRAN
1) Pakistan minister to strengthen Pak-Iran ties
Islamabad, Thursday, 29 October 2015
Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz met Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Shamkhani at Foreign Office in Islamabad and discussed areas of potential cooperation including trade, power and anti-terrorism.
Source: Daily Times, Lahore; See also: Dawn, Karachi

SAUDI ARABIA
2) Finance minister Ishaq Dar met Saudi delegation to express condolence over the hajj stampede
Islamabad, Friday, 16 October 2015
In a bilateral meeting with the Saudi team led by its Minister of State Musaad Ali Alaiban in Riyadh, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar expressed grief over the Mina stampede tragedy and assured assistance in tracing the missing Pakistanis.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See also: Business Recorder, Karachi

3) Saudi government’s help in earthquake relief lauded
Islamabad, Friday, 16 October 2015
Saudi help in reconstructing the 2005 earthquake-hit areas was acknowledged by Minister for Religious Affairs Muhammad Yousaf in his interaction with Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Al-Zahrani.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See also: Business Recorder, Karachi

TURKEY
4) Ankara blasts condemned by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Lahore, Monday, 12 October 2015
In a telephonic conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif extended his condolences on the loss of lives in twin bomb blasts outside Ankara central railway station on 10 October 2015.
Source: The Nation, Lahore; See also: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

5) Turkish President Erdogan requested Pakistani support in fight against PKK, IS
Islamabad, Thursday, 15 October 2015   
During the three-day trip of Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif, Turkish President Erdogan sought the help of Pakistani armed forces to fight the Kurdish group PKK and Islamic State.
Source: Daily Pakistan, Lahore; See also: The Express Tribune, Karachi

ECONOMIC ISSUES
IRAN
6) Gwadar, Chabahar seaports to be operationalised as sister ports
Islamabad, Thursday, 29 October 2015
In a meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Secretary to Iran’s National Security Council Ali Shamkhani in Islamabad, it was proposed that strategic ports of Chabahar in Iran and Gwadar in Pakistan would be developed to promote bilateral trade.
Source: Business Recorder, Karachi; See also: Pakistan Observer, Islamabad

TURKEY
7) Pakistan, Turkey commenced talks for Free Trade Agreement
Islamabad, Friday, 16 October 2015
Pakistan delegation led by Commerce Additional Secretary Robina Athar and the Turkish side headed by Acting Deputy Undersecretary Husnu Dilemre signed the terms of reference for a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Ankara.
Source: Daily Times, Lahore; See also: Dawn, Karachi

SECURITY ISSUES
IRAN
8) Iranian forces fired eight mortar shells into Pakistani territory
Quetta, Saturday, 17 October 2015
Iranian border guards fired eight mortar shells in Nukar area of Panjgur, in Baluchistan. No loss of life or damage to civilian structures was reported because of the shelling.
Source: The Express Tribune, Karachi; See also: Dawn, Karachi; Daily Times, Lahore

TURKEY
9) Pakistan assured unconditional support to Turkey in fighting terrorism
Islamabad, Tuesday, 13 October 2015
On a three-day visit to Turkey, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of both the countries met at headquarters of the Turkish Land Forces to discuss the mutual security concerns.
Source: Daily Times, Lahore; See also: Business Recorder, Karachi; See also: The Express Tribune, Karachi

10) Pakistan-Turkey joint air exercise concluded
Islamabad, Sunday, 18 October 2015
Joint exercise conducted by air forces of Pakistan and Turkey, from 5-17 October concluded at Pakistan Air Force base in Sargodha, Punjab.
Source: Dawn, Karachi; See also: Daily Times, Lahore

11) Turkey to gift 34 aircrafts and spares to Pakistan
Islamabad, Thursday, 29 October 2015
As per the defence agreement signed by Director General of Pakistan’s Defence Procurement Naveed Ahmed and Turkey’s Chief of Logistics Serdar Gulbas during Pakistan-Turkey High Level Military Dialogue Group (HLMDG) meeting, Pakistan would be given 34 T-37 aircrafts free of cost.
Source: Dawn, Karachi; See also: The Express Tribune, Karachi; Daily Pakistan, Lahore

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES
SAUDI ARABIA
12) Saudi-based relief organization KARCPP pledged help for October earthquake victims
Islamabad, Saturday, 31 October 2015
Saudi based relief organization, King Abdullah Relief Campaign for Pakistani People (KARCPP) has assured to support to the victims of 26 October earthquake, which had its epicentre in Pakistan.
Source: Pakistan Observer, Islamabad; See also: Daily Times, Lahore

TURKEY
13) Centennial celebrations of Urdu language held in Turkey; commemorative stamp issued in Pakistan
Islamabad, Saturday, 17 October 2015
Turkey celebrated 100 years of Urdu in Ankara where the Istanbul University, in collaboration with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, organized an International Symposium. As part of celebrations, the Government of Pakistan issued a commemorative postage stamp on 12 October.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See also: The Frontier Post, Peshawar

COMPILED BY DIVYA MALHOTRA

Divya Malhotra is an M. Phil candidate at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.  Email

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND. Editor, MEI@ND: P R Kumaraswamy