Despite the geographical distance between Turkey and Pakistan, there is an entrenched friendship between the peoples of these two countries. This friendship flowered during the Mughal Empire and was reinforced thanks to the support the Pakistani people gave to Turkey during the Turkish War of Independence. Natural and sincere cooperation exists between Turks and Pakistanis in various countries around the world.
In addition to his experience as a former foreign minister, Gül has a special interest in and love for Pakistan. His staff members, too, are considerably experienced about Pakistan. Chief foreign policy advisor Ambassador Hüseyin Diriöz, Presidential Private Secretary Ambassador Hüseyin Avni Karslıoğlu, Presidential Chief Adviser Erşat Hürmüzlü, Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary and former Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Rauf Engin Soysal, Burak Akçapar, deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Southeast Asia Department, and current Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan M. Babür Hızlan are quite proficient about Pakistan.
Political developments in Turkey have always been closely monitored by the Pakistani army, political parties and intellectuals, and Turkish politicians have given positive advice to all parties in Pakistan. Currently, Pakistan is considering reforming its constitution. During the time of former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, many powers and authorities of the prime ministry and parliament had been transferred to the presidency. They are trying to fix this. However, when a consensus cannot be reached between the government and the opposition, this damages the country’s stability and democracy. And terror incidents mount. For this reason, Gül’s visit to Pakistan in the post-Musharraf period is critical for the reinforcement of democracy in the country. Gül was received warmly in Islamabad, granted an honorary doctorate by Quaid-i-Azam University and decorated with the Nishan-i-Pakistan by President Ali Asif Zardari. Several agreements on agriculture, investment agencies, planning and health were inked. A representative of the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) took up office in Islamabad, and Turkey decided to provide development assistance to Pakistan through the TİKA. Gül met with Pakistani politicians in Islamabad and created an atmosphere of reconciliation in Lahore with his political experience. He managed to bring the government and the opposition together. Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani attended the lunch hosted by Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the main opposition Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and his brother, the chief minister of Punjab Province, Shahbaz Sharif, in honor of Gül in Lahore on April 1. And Nawaz Sharif attended the dinner hosted in the evening on the same day by Gillani in honor of Gül. By arranging an opportunity for Gillani and Sharif to meet privately, the political tension in Pakistan was lowered. In 2007, one of Gül’s first visits after being elected to office was to Pakistan, and he managed to defuse the political tension and prevented the opposition’s potential boycott of general elections.
Pakistan defines itself as a Southern Asian, Central Asian and Middle Eastern country. It has a big diaspora in Western countries, particularly in the UK and the US. Destabilization of nuclear Pakistan as a country having the sixth largest population in the world may lead to instability in the region and in the world. Institutionalization of democracy in Pakistan will contribute to the stability of this country as well as the region. For this reason, Gül’s efforts to boost the institutionalization of democracy in Pakistan represent a major milestone in the region’s progress toward greater democracy.
