ISTANBUL (Turkey): President Dr Arif Alvi on Sunday conferred Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan's civil award upon two Turkish dignitaries, Dr Selami Kilic and Prof Dr Celal Soydan, in recognition of their services to Pakistan, in a special investiture ceremony held here.
Dr Selami participated in the relief activities after 2005 devastating earthquake in Pakistan. After the 2010 floods in Pakistan, Dr Selami Kiliç helped establish a field hospital in Dera Murad Jamali and carried out damage and needs assessment surveys in various areas of Sindh and Baluchistan.
He was also at the forefront of the initiative to establish the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital at Muzaffargarh.
Dr Selami is currently working as the head of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Turkish Ministry of Health. He received his medical education from Quaid-e-Azam Medical College Bahawalpur. His deep love and regard for Pakistan has always remained a distinguishing feature of his professional career.
The President also conferred the award of Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam upon Prof Dr Celal Soydan, in recognition of his outstanding contribution in the field of services to Pakistan, a press release said.
Prof Dr Celal Soydan, currently head of Urdu Department in Istanbul University, has made remarkable contribution for the promotion of Urdu language and literature in Turkey in his career spanning three decades.
Prof Celal Soyadan has written 20 books and published over two dozen articles and papers in Urdu and Turkish in various national and international journals. Due to his efforts, the study of Iqbaliat in Turkey has been further enriched. Both his PhD ad MA thesis were on Iqbal.
He has translated into Turkish language the classical works of Allama Iqbal such as Armughan-e-Hijaz, Zarb-e-Kaleem, Bal-e-Jebreel, Bang-e-Dara, the Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, etc.
He had played a prominent role in highlighting the special place that Iqbal had in his heart and for Turkey, its people and its luminaries.
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