Awards Ceremony for 3rd edition of “Jinnah Young Writers Awards” held in Ankara

By Rasheed Ahmed, ANKARA: Awards ceremony for the third edition of “Jinnah Young Writers Award” essay competition was held in Ankara today. Turkey’s Minister for National Education Ziya Selçuk was the chief guest on the occasion.
The Award, named after the Founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, is the initiative of the Pakistan Embassy, organized in collaboration with the Ministry of National Education of Turkey. The theme for this year’s competition was “Brotherly country Pakistan where history and tourism meet.” A total of 78 short-listed essays were received for the competition from 44 provinces across Turkey.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister Ziya Selçuk said that Pakistan occupies a very special place in the eyes of the people of Turkey. He mentioned that the Jinnah Young Writers Awards competition would create further awareness about the unique Pakistan-Turkey relations, which were deep rooted in history. He proposed holding a similar competition in Pakistan. Minister Ziya Selçuk added that Pakistan and Turkey had supported each other throughout history, emphasizing that Turkey will not forget the support given by the people of Pakistan during Turkish War of Independence, Çanakkale War, and the 15thJuly 2016 failed coup.
Ambassador Syrus Sajjad Qazi in his remarks said Jinnah Young Writers Award was a key feature of the Embassy’s public diplomacy efforts. He felicitated the participating students for their deep thinking, high quality information, and passion and perspective contained in the essays and termed their efforts as a valuable contribution to the Pakistan-Turkey relationship.
Zeynep ASLAN of Türkan Ömer Okan Anadolu High School, Gaziantep province clinched first position; Elif KUYUMCU of Etimesgut ?ehit Velit Bekda? Anadolu High School Ankara obtained second position while ?rem KARLIKLI of Social Science High School of Trabzon province secured third position. Essays written by Gülay ÇAKIR of ?ehit Turgut Solak Art High School of Balikesir province, Selahattin UMUTLU of Yücel Boru Art High School of Kocaeli province, and Erol ÇALLI of Hasan Zeki Boz Anadolu High School of U?ak province were awarded “Honorable Mention.”
Brief introductory documentary on Pakistan and Turkey was also shown to the audience. Senior officials of the Ministry of Education, representatives of various Turkish institutions,students, their parents and media representatives attended the event.