PM Imran Khan’s visit to Ankara will strengthen ties: Turkish ambassador

0
487

ISLAMABAD, (DNA) – Prime Minister Imran Khan has reached the Turkish city of Konya on a two-day visit to Turkey at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.The premier was received by Konya Governor Cüneyit Orhan Toprak, Deputy Mayor Mithat, Pakistan Ambassador Syrus Sajjad Qazi at the airport.

The prime minister is accompanied by a high-level delegation including Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Planning Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar and Adviser to the Prime Minister Abdul Razak Dawood.

He will meet President Erdogan tomorrow to discuss the prospects of cementing bilateral relations between the two countries.

The prime minister will also address a business forum and hold several meetings with Turkish businessmen and potential investors during his stay at Ankara.

Turkish ambassador to Islamabad on Thursday said Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Ankara would further strengthen ties and brotherhood between the two countries.

“Two countries have historical relations and this visit would further strengthen ties and brotherhood between Islamabad and Ankara,” Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul told.

“In addition to bilateral political, commercial and economic relations, we look forward to regional and global developments, especially the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan will be discussed during the meetings.” Yurdakul said.

“Satisfying level in political relations should be reflected in commercial and economic areas. Our relations are not only brotherly but mutually beneficial as well,” he said.

“Those agreements we sign for Attack and Tactical Reconnaissance (ATAK) helicopters and corvettes are only the beginning of defense industry cooperation between the two countries,” the ambassador added.

He said quality of education will be improved after Turkiye Maarif Foundation takes control of schools in Pakistan that were linked to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

At the end of December, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the government to declare the FETO as a terror group and to ban its affiliated schools in the country.

The top court ordered the transfer of FETO’s “all movable and immovable assets,” schools, colleges, education centers and other similar entities to the Turkiye Maarif Foundation.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the bloody failed coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

In October, Pakistan Navy commissioned a 17,000-ton fleet tanker it has built in collaboration with a Turkish defense contractor, STM.