As part of the series of events to commemorate the 70 years of establishment of Pakistan-Turkey diplomatic relations, Directorate General of Post & Telegraph Organization (PTT) of Turkey and Pakistan Post issued a Joint Commemorative Stamp on Thursday. The inaugural ceremonies were held in Ankara and Islamabad simultaneously, a message received here Friday said.
The Joint Stamp depicts two great political thinkers who made a deep imprint on the hearts and minds of the people of Pakistan and Turkey - Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), the national poet of Pakistan and Mehmet Akif Ersoy (1873-1936), the national poet of Turkey.
Ambassador of Pakistan in Turkey Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi; Chairman PTT, who is also Chairman of Universal Postal Union's Council of Administration, Kenan Bozgeyik; and Director General for South Asia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Fazli Çorman performed the inauguration ceremony by signing enlarged specimen stamps at PTT Museum in Ankara.
In his remarks at the inaugural ceremony, Ambassador Syrus Qazi said the last 70 years of Pakistan-Turkey diplomatic relations was a story of unparalleled, unprecedented and indissoluble relationship of brotherhood, mutual trust, affection and selflessness. He said friendship with Turkey was in our blood, it was in our ethos, and it was in our identity as a nation. The Ambassador also paid tributes to Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Mehmet Akif Ersoy, two great poets and thinkers of the 20th century, who played a key role in the national struggles of Pakistan and Turkey.
He said though they never met each other, they regularly maintained contact through correspondence and drew light from each other. They were like two candles which illuminated the way of the Muslim Ummah in troubled times, Ambassador Qazi added.
PTT Chairman Kemal Bozgeyik informed that Turkey had issued 13 stamps about Pakistan on various occasions, but this was the first time that they were issuing a joint stamp. He reiterated his firm commitment to further enhance relations with Pakistan in the domain of postal services.
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