ISLAMABAD : Minister for Defense Khawaja Asif congratulated the Ambassador and said that Pakistan and Türkiye enjoyed exemplary fraternal relations based on common faith, culture, values, civilization and historical linkages, mutual trust, and support.
He addressed the gathering on the occasion of Türkiye 99th Republic Day hosted by Embassy of Türkiye in Islamabad as chief guest.
The Republic Day event was attended by Minister for foriegn affairs Ms Hina Rabbani Khar , Dean of the diplomatic corps Ambassador of Turkmenistan Atajan Movlamov, Nawabzada Shazain Bugti , Federal Minister for Narcotics Control , Asad Mehmood. Federal Minister for Communications,Faisal Karim Kundi former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, parliamentarians, diplomats, Defense Attaches, Businessman’s and media persons .
The Minister for Defense said that Türkiye had developed as a regional, economic, strategic, and military power. The minister also appreciated the defense engagement between Pakistan and Türkiye focused on building forces’ capabilities through defense industrial collaboration and regular exchange of training, delegations, courses, and joint exercises.
During the ceremony, Dr. Mehmet Paçaci, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye, addressing the participants, said that 99 years ago, on October 29, 1923, the Republic of Türkiye was established under the leadership of Gazi Mustafa Kemal, after a victorious war of independence.
He also read a message from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for Republic Day, which states, “we all together feel the pride and the enthusiasm of celebrating the 99th anniversary of the foundation of Türkiye. We pursue our uninterrupted struggle to elevate the Republic of Türkiye, which we founded by paying heavy sacrifices under very difficult conditions”.
“We transformed Türkiye into a country with an exemplary democracy, an impressive economy, whose diplomacy is followed with interest, and which preserves its national unity and brotherhood in the strongest way possible, despite all attempts of sabotage. We compete with ourselves in every field, from agriculture to tourism, transport to education and health, and we constantly raise the bar for success”.
After the cake cutting ceremony guests enjoyed the Türkiye and Pakistani cuisine specially prepared for this occasion under the supervision of well-known Malaysian chef Pathmanathan Balagangdaram, Executive Chef of Serena Hotels which was liked by the guests.