Friends in need

Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit has signalled his nation’s willingness to move forward with its close friendship with Pakistan. PHOTO: PID

While the visit by Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan badly clogged traffic in Lahore on December 23, this was a small price to pay for the benefits that the trip brought.Prime Minister Erdogan, who met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as well as a host of businessmen, witnessed the signing of three memorandums on trade and industry, and also saw a promise by the Turkish delegation, which included members of that country’s business community, to extend the metro bus service currently running in Lahore to other cities.

The visit by the Turkish premier and the message sent out during it, is one that deserves great appreciation. In current times, Pakistan has faced a dearth of friends. In certain cases, it has been abandoned by even its most staunch allies. In such circumstances, Turkey’s consistent support is a huge bonus. It is also true that what Pakistan needs at this time, more than anything else, is investment — and Turkey’s endeavours to help bring this in are something to be whole-heartedly welcomed. There are few other countries which have put in similar efforts to our benefit over an extended period of time.

Pakistan can also take advantange from its close equation with Turkey, by picking up on the models of modernisation, liberalism and development that Turkey has been able to assemble within its own territory, as a pre-dominantly Muslim country which bridges the East and West. This, too, is something we can learn from as we wage our own battle against extremism and all the horrors it brings. Continuing the close bond of friendship with Turkey is crucial. Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit has signalled his nation’s willingness to move forward with this, and the confidence shown by Turkey in Pakistan, as a country with which business is possible, may also help build confidence in it among other nations, helping to rescue us from the now well-embedded sense of isolation we face within a world community that increasingly looks at our nation as a failed entity. Turkey’s refusal to go along with this idea gives us hope.