ANKARA: Pakistan’s Ambassador to Turkey Sohail Mahmood said on Sunday Pakistan and Turkey were learning from each other’s experiences and had mounted determined efforts to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from their soil.
Both the countries suffered at the hands of terrorists, but shared information as their security and defence forces were in a regular dialogue on the issue to further cement their cooperation on combating terrorism, he told APP in an interview while recapitulating Pak-Turkish close and friendly relationship in diverse fields.
He said during their bilateral meetings the two sides had been exploring more avenues to reinforce their multi-faceted relations, particularly in defence and economic sectors.
“It is an on-going process and is always on the agenda for further strengthening security and defence cooperation,” he said.
Turkish police had been helping the Punjab police to build its capacity in counter-terrorism and helped it train Dolphin Force for curbing street crimes.
On signing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), he said, both countries had already signed the framework for the agreement in March this year and there would be more talks in May and June for finalising further details.
He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had already instructed for completion of negotiations by September this year when the two countries are expected to ink the agreement.
The agreement would create a legal framework for greater trade between two countries which was far below the actual potential, he added.
FTA would open up vast opportunities for the Pak-Turk business communities which would be a consistency of the desire of both the countries to further bolster their economic relations, said the envoy.
This will give them a chance to collaborate in bilateral business ventures and start such projects with the third country as well, he added.
Turkey’s Ambassador to Pakistan Sadik Babur Girgin, in a recent talk, had also expressed similar views, saying there were massive economic opportunities which should be tapped for the benefit of the two people.
To a question on the start of cargo train between Pakistan and Turkey, he said, efforts were underway as both the countries were engaged in addressing many technical issues like schedule of the trains and customs formalities.
He said chambers of commerce of Pakistan, Iran and Turkey needed to be in touch and work out details about the cargo train. However, he said Pakistan was keen to start the cargo train as soon as possible.
As the discussion between the two sides on the cargo train were underway, some officials were of the opinion that there should be guaranteed cargo while others would say the start of the train would generate bookings and business activities on its own.
Describing the train service as a ‘promising project’, the ambassador said it would help enhance trade between the three countries and generate a lot of economic activities.
The envoy, who had also taken some steps to further deepen people-to-people contacts, said Pak-Turkish relations transcended governments as both the countries were bound by their special cultural ties.
Quoting an example, he said, 100 years of Urdu were recently celebrated in Turkey, adding that the language was being taught at the universities of Ankara, Istanbul and Seljuk. Poet of the East Allama Muhammad Iqbal is very popular in Turkey and his spiritual association with Rumi is well known, he added.
Iqbal in his works had supported Turkey, therefore he has a special place in hearts of Turks as they feel a sense of gratitude to him, he said.
Sohail Mahmood said this year the Jinnah Young Writers Award and an essay completion on the subject of Pak-Turkish relations were organised in Turkey to further promote cultural relations between the two countries.
The ambassador said he was making special efforts to transfer close relationship between the two countries to the younger generation of Turkey. He said at least 1,500 students from Pakistan were studying in various Turkish universities.
