MIRPUR (AJK)-Ambassador of Turkey in Pakistan Mustafa Baber Girgin called on AJK President Sardar Masood Khan and discussed various matters including the promotion of friendly relations between Pakistan and Turkey and the settlement of Kashmir issue.
The farewell meeting of the Turkish Ambassador to the AJK President was held at the end of his tour to Islamabad. Girgin said that his assignment in Pakistan was the most productive during which he saw Pakistan making great strides while Pakistan-Turkey relations are reaching new heights.
Masood paid tribute to Ambassador Girgin for his effective and successful diplomacy in Pak-Turkey relations during the past four years.
He thanked Turkey for its strong, consistent and steadfast support to the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir at the international forums especially in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Turkey, he said, was the founding member of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir and has always called for an end to the massive human right violations taking place in IOK; and a just solution of the issue.
He thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and in fact offering good offices and mediation for the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. The AJK president conveyed to the Turkish envoy deep appreciation of the people of Azad Kashmir for Turkey’s generous support to the reconstruction of Muzaffarabad after the 2005 earthquake.
“Now, new linkages between the higher education institutions of AJK and Turkey are being explored,” he said. He added that exchange of faculty and students would further cement the brotherly ties between Turkey, Pakistan and AJK. In addition, he said that exchange of parliamentary and cultural delegations would further strengthen the two people’s historical bonds.