Islamabad

Accompanied by the Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Babur Hizlan, Babur Girgin, Director General South Asia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey, visited Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI).

A team of IPRI scholars led by Acting President Dr Maqsud-ul-Hasan Nuri held discussion with the visiting team on the South Asia region, particularly Afghanistan and the role of Turkey.

Babur Girgin said that to Turkey, the South Asia region includes all countries from Iran to Bangladesh. Turkey and Pakistan, he said, cooperate with each other on a number of bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms. They both share a number of similarities such as issues like Kashmir and Cyprus, he said adding that Turkey like Pakistan has a dispute with its eastern neighbour Armenia and they both have separatist problems also.

The visiting diplomat said that Turkey wants the regional countries to be more proactive and adopt a regional approach towards resolving the Afghan problem, particularly Pakistan and Iran as both continue suffer due to Afghanistan. It was towards this end that Turkey facilitated the Istanbul Conference in November 2011. Answering a question on recent legislation by French Parliament on Armenian killings, Babur Girgin said that such issues are probed intentionally, nevertheless, Turkey took certain measures in response to this legislation and if France carries this on, tensions will naturally be escalated between the two. Mr. Babur stressed on developing closer ties, more people-to-people contacts and enhanced economic integration among the Muslim countries.

Incoming search terms: