Islamabad: (Parliament Times) The President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan has expressed his deep appreciation to the government of Turkey for consistently supporting the cause of Kashmir in the OIC and other international forums.
He made these remarks at the ceremony held to see off students and faculty of AJK University who had been selected for higher learning in Turkey. The ceremony was also addressed by the Ambassador Sadik Babur Girgin of Turkey, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad, Chairman HEC and Dr. Muhammad Kaleem Abbasi, VC AJK University.
The President said that Turkey has expressed its solidarity with the Kashmiri People and advocated realization of their right to self determination with clarity and conviction in the OIC Contact Group of Jammu and Kashmir as well as other international forums. President Masood Khan recalled that last week in New York during the OIC Contact Group meeting the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Recep AkdaÄŸ made a strong statement calling for an end to the violence in IOK and demanding a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue
The President said that Pakistan and Turkey had unique and strong ties. This relationship has permeated to the hearts and minds of the people of the two nations. it was further cemented by the strategic, political, cultural, diplomatic and linguistic ties”, he said.
H.E Sadiq Babur Girgin highlighted that Pakistan and Turkey enjoyed a historic bond spanning seven decades. He said that the strong diplomatic, social and political bond between the two brotherly nations has never been compromised upon and is getting stronger by the day. The Turkish government, he said, has always stood by Pakistan in every crisis and calamity.
Sardar Masood Khan thanked the Turkish government for its generous and timely support to the reconstruction of Azad Kashmir after the 2005 earthquake. “Because of Turkey’s post-earthquake reconstruction in the capital of Azad Kashmir, Muzaffarabad had become a mini Turkey. Turkish builders had left a deep imprint on Muzaffarabad. Today, the capital of Azad Kashmir landscape and skyline reflected Turkey’s elegant and appealing architecture”, he said.
Paying tribute to Turkish President Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, the President AJK said that Muslim nations needed to collaborate together in the educational field to invest in knowledge economies. “Turkey’s scholarship for Azad Kashmir faculty and students would go a long way in promoting educational exchanges and enhancement of economies centered on knowledge benefitting both countries”
In his address Chairman HEC highly appreciated the role of the Turkish government in accommodating bilateral academic programs in order to facilitate students from all over Pakistan in pursuing their higher education at Turkish universities. Dr. Mukhtar said that Turkish institutions are providing quality education in all fields of science, technology and social sciences; and it was an honor for our students to be a part of their alumni.
President Masood congratulated the students and faculty chosen to attend higher learning institutions in Turkey and said that from now on they would be good will ambassadors for Turkey, Pakistan and Azad Kashmir.
The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency under the Turkish government had initiated this scholarship program last year and this year marks the second batch of scholars to be selected from University of AJK. This year, five students and ten faculty members will be travelling to Turkey for their doctoral and post graduate studies.