‘Pakistan, Turkey Educational links getting stronger’

Yurdakul says Ankara will promote partnership among universities of the two countries

ISLAMABAD: The educational link between Pakistan and Turkey is growing with time, said Ambassador of Turkey Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul on the graduation of Turkish students from Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU).

Turkish ambassador expressed hope that Pakistan-Turkish educational linkage would get stronger and there will be more exchanges of students with the passage of time.

Addressing a graduation ceremony of Turkish students of Urdu language learning at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), he said the government of Turkey would encourage cooperative partnership among the universities of the two countries to earn from each other and have a better understanding of contemporary knowledge.

He said that he was overjoyed to see that a group of Turkish students got themselves well educated in Urdu language and they were able to read, write and speak it after attending just six-week course at the AIOU.

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Appreciating the AIOU's efforts for promoting educational linkages between the two brotherly countries, he said that he was looking forward to opening new avenues of bilateral cooperation.

Welcoming the ambassador, Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Zia-Ul-Qayyum said that he cherished Pakistan's deep-rooted relations with Turkey and wished they should be a strong partner in the educational sector.

The AIOU, he said would soon prepare a 'Concept paper' to further strengthen bilateral ties at the universities' level. The AIOU, he said was actively engaged in enhancing its international collaboration particularly with the Central Asia States and Pakistan's great friends like Turkey.

The vice chancellor noted that during their six-week stay in Pakistan, the Turkish students also acquainted themselves with Pakistani culture and its historical traditions while visiting Lahore, Peshawar and some other cities.

A special six-week course was arranged and designed by the university's Department of Urdu. It is for the first time that the students from Turkey joined the AIOU for learning Urdu.

Earlier, the students from Egypt had attended here a similar course.

The graduation ceremony was also addressed by Registrar AIOU, Dr Muhammad Zaigham Qadeer, Dean Social Sciences Dr Samina Awan, Chairman Department of Urdu Dr Abdul Aziz Sahr and Director International Collaboration and Exchange Office Dr Zahid Majeed. They spoke about the keenness of Turkish students learning Urdu. APP

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2019.