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Pakistan and Turkey vow to cooperate in trade, condemn terrorism
During the visit, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari conferred the Nishan-e-Pakistan award on President Gül for playing a key role in furthering the ever-growing bilateral relations between Pakistan and Turkey.
Speaking after the award ceremony during a dinner hosted by the Pakistani president in honor of Gül, Zardari said Pakistan values its ties with Turkey and the relations between the countries in the fields of education, defense, agriculture, education and energy and said trade would be strengthened.
Zardari said Pakistan had struck agreements with Turkey in areas of economic cooperation, agriculture and investment. They will also cooperate in the security sphere to fight against terrorism; both countries have strongly condemned terrorism and extremism and decided to cooperate with each other to “eliminate the menace of terrorism.” “Pakistan and Turkey can defeat terrorism together,” Zardari noted.
 The president posed in front of a Pakistani mosque in Lahore, where he attended a Pakistani-Turkish Business Forum held on Thursday. |
Gül emphasized the importance of Pakistan for Turkey and its people and said Turks have never forgotten and will never forget the help of the Pakistani people to their Turkish brothers during the Turkish War of Independence. Gül said Pakistan is a very close friend of Turkey and is an important country in the region whose importance cannot be neglected at any cost.
Speaking during the dinner hosted by Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani said there was a complete consensus among the nation, the political forces and state institutions in the war against terrorism and extremism. “Pakistan and Turkey have common agendas, and we are facing a common set of challenges,” he said, adding that they have a common responsibility to demonstrate this to the world.
Gül also watched a performance from Pak-Turk Turkish schools and a presentation about the activities of Turkish schools in Pakistan. Following the show, Gül gave awards to businessmen who had contributed to the establishment and work of the schools. Expressing satisfaction at the success of the schools, Gül also thanked the Pakistani authorities for hosting Turkish schools. “The depth of friendship between Pakistan and Turkey is beyond words. These services and activities are very valuable. Historically good relations between the two countries will be carried forward through this kind of cooperation,” Gül said.
 President Abdullah Gül posed with teachers from the PakTurk School and College in Islamabad following a performance by students on Thursday. |
Speaking during the Pakistan-Turkish Business Forum in Lahore, Gül said Turkish contractors are always ready to cooperate and invest in Pakistan. Emphasizing the to-be-built railway between Islamabad and İstanbul through Tehran, Gül said the two countries could soon boost their current $2 billion trade to $5 billion. Zardari said the 6,500-kilometer-long rail link would open up and connect vast the European and Asian markets for the benefit of not only Pakistan and Turkey but also of all the people in the region.
During Gül’s visit, the Turkish and Pakistani delegation also signed three memorandums of understanding on planning, agriculture and commercial cooperation. The agreement on planning seeks to strengthen mutual cooperation by means of the exchange of information, research and planning studies and institutional capacity-building between the two countries. Both countries will also cooperate in agriculture to achieve higher levels of efficiency in production, processing and marketing.
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