PAKISTAN can take legitimate pride in its friendship with Turkey. Both have shared each others joys, helped each other in times of trial and supported each others causes, thus evolving an equation that is marked by complete trust and understanding and genuine warmth. The presence of its Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in our midst is, therefore, an occasion of great happiness for us. His arrival at a moment when we are engulfed by critical challenges, provides us with an opportunity to consult with him about the ways of coming out of them as unscathed as possible and, in fact, turn them into an opportunity for peace and progress. His meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday resulted in the expression of resolve to jointly fight the menace of terrorism; Pakistan, being a frontline state in the war on terror and with so much at stake, badly needed that support, though Turkey has also borne its share of the scourge and, indeed, no country in the presently charged atmosphere could claim immunity. Mr Erdogan addressed a joint session of Parliament at Islamabad on Monday, holding out the assurance that Turkey stands with Pakistan in the war against terror. His words: Pakistan holds a special place in the hearts of the Turkish people right from the day that the former became independent 62 years ago(and) the Turkish people still remember the freedom movement spearheaded by Jauhar brothers, amply demonstrate the strength of the two nations long-standing ties. The intention to further cement these ties in the multifarious fields of national life - developing strategic ties, making economic and commercial exchanges more frequent, exploring scope of investment in energy, industry and agriculture, setting up joint ventures and executing infrastructural projects - was evident in the joint declaration issued at the end of the meeting and the press conference they addressed together. The Turkish leader was confident that with the range of exchangeable goods available, the current bilateral trade of $741 million, which he rightly called meagre, could be easily enhanced to $2 billion in a couple of years. And to take practical measures to hit that target, the two leaders launched Pak-Turkey CEOs Forum. About 80 chief executive officers of Pakistani and Turkish enterprises were present to hear their addresses at the forums launching ceremony. A High-Level Cooperation Council headed by the two PMs was also formed to hold twice-yearly meetings. It is hoped sincere efforts would go into making these intentions a reality.