The President said this during his meeting with Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Aiwan-e- Sadr today on the sidelines
of Eighth D-8 Summit.
Turkish Prime Minister was assisted by Mr. Ahmet DAVUTOGLU,
foreign minister, Mr. Omer CELIK MNA, Vice Chairman, AK Party, Mr. Nukhet
HOTAR, MNA, vice Chairman AK party, Mr. NurettinCANIKLI, MNA, parliamentary
group Deputy President, AK, Party, Mr. Yalcin AKDOGAN, MNA, advisor to
Chairman, AK Party, Mr. Cevdet ERDOL, MNA, AK Party, Mr. Mehmet CEYLAN, deputy
Minster of development, Turkish ambassador Mustafa Babar Hizlan and other
senior officials.
From Pakistan side, those who attended the meeting included
among others Syed Yusaf Raza Gilani, former Prime Minister, Ms. Hina Rabbani
Khar, foreign Minister, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, finance minister, Mian Manzoor
Ahmed Watto, Minister of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Mr. Qamar Zaman
Kaira, minister for Information & Broadcasting, Mr. M. Salman Faruqui,
Secretary General to the President, Mr. Jalil Abbas Jilani, Secretary foreign
affairs, Governor State Bank and other senior officials.
Briefing about the meeting, Spokesperson to the President
senator Farhatullah Babar said that the two leaders held wide-ranging
discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues, peace process in Afghanistan and the situation in Middle East .
The President welcomed Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Pakistan to
attend D-8 Summit and expressed hope that the summit with its distinct trade
promotion focus would further energize economic ties within the D-8 family.
The President said that by hosting 8th summit of D –8
countries, we commit our complete support to the vision of Muslim solidarity
conceived by late Prime Minister Erbakan. He said that D-8 holds great
potential to build on the synergies that exist between the 8 leading Muslim
member states, adding that Summit has gained
further importance as it was taking place at a time when the Muslim World was
facing unprecedented challenges from North Africa to Afghanistan . The Spokesperson said
that President stressed for a proactive role to ensure that this process of
change and transformation is materialized in a peaceful manner and without
causing disruptions in Muslim societies.
On situation in Middle East, the President said that Pakistan appreciates the democratic
transformations in the Middle East and the
broader Islamic World and believed that this transformation should be peaceful
without resorting to violence, without external interference and in accordance
with the aspirations of the people. The President expressed support and
solidarity with Turkey
on grave incident of shelling across its border from Syrian side in which
Turkish citizens lost their lives.
The President lauded Turkey ’s
constructive role in Afghanistan
and the valuable contributions under the ambit of the trilateral mechanism as
well as the Istanbul
process. The President urged the need for the two countries to intensify
cooperation, both bilaterally as well as under the trilateral mechanism to
support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process of reconciliation. The President
said that he was looking forward to attend Trilateral Summit in Ankara next month.
On drug trafficking, the President said that both Turkey and Pakistan should play its proactive
role and sensitize the world about the close linkage between narco-trade and
terrorism in the region. Narco-trade was a great source of financing for
terrorism, he said and added that Afghanistan would remain unstable
and cause instability in the region and beyond unless immediate remedial
measures are taken to eradicate narcotic drugs from the country.
Discussing bilateral relations, the two leaders expressed
satisfaction on the current state of bilateral ties and agreed that Turkey and Pakistan enjoy exemplary relations
which go beyond the governments and are rooted in common history, culture and
ethos of our people. They also urged for early implementation of bilateral
agreements signed between the two countries, which they hoped, would further
deepen bilateral relationship in all fields.
The President during the meeting invited Turkish investment
in key sectors such as infrastructure, housing, engineering, energy,
agriculture, telecommunications and mining and said that it was encouraging
that private sectors of the two countries are collaborating in the energy,
construction, food processing and rubber industries.
On Gul Train, the President said that Pakistan was
keenly interested in the project and thanked the Turkish Prime Minister for his
personal interest in Gul Train project. The President expressed hope that The
“Gül train” project would revolutionize cargo and transit facilities between
our two countries and urged the need to formulate speedy border crossing
formalities, harmonize customs procedures and generate cargo by larger
involvement of the private sector to make the project a success. He said that Pakistan and Turkey
together with Iran
needed to take all the necessary steps to fast track the finalization of the
key issues in the project.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Pak-
Turkey bilateral relationship would grow with every passing day and touch new
heights in the near future. He appreciated the huge sacrifices made by Pakistan in the
fight against militancy and terrorism and assured all out support of the
Turkish government in this regard. The Prime minister urged for close bilateral
cooperation at various levels to further strengthen bilateral relations
particularly trade and investment ties.
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