Gul train strong symbol of forward looking ties of Turkey, Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Apr 17: Gul cargo train traversing 6500 kilometers from Islamabad, Tehran to Istanbul will become a symbol of things to come between Pakistan and Turkey in coming years. The project got a final shape in the recent four day official visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to Turkish capital Ankara from April 11-14. With the strong encouragement of leaders of the two countries, Turkish Union of Chambers (TOBB) has announced to immediately start a company to run the project.  The company will seek collaboration with business groups of Pakistan and Iran to execute the project. “We are planning to get the train running in less than a year,” said Rifat Hisarciklioglu, President of the Turkish Union of Chambers (TOBB) during a briefing to the Turkish and Pakistan Presidents. Weekly trains are expected to take a one way trip in 11 days between Istanbul and Islamabad. Gul train will open up the unconnected and unexplored European and Asian markets for Pakistan. During his stay, President Zardari held fruitful discussions with Turkish President, Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Speaker Grand National Assembly, Mehmet Ali Sahin on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest. The Presidents in their meetings agreed to upgrade the existing Islamabad-Istanbul railway line, open up five Turkish bank branches in Pakistan and arrange for currency swaps to bolster trade and commerce. Pakistan and Turkey are keen to expand their bilateral trade volume from existing $ one billion to $ two billion by year 2012. Turkish President in a joint press conference with President Zardari told that as his country has a customs union with Europe to trade goods, it will extend full support for enhancing Pakistani exports moving from Turkey to European markets.  In his remarks before international media, President Abdullah Gul said his country’s economic relations with Pakistan were based on emotions emanating from sense of brotherhood. “Our economic relations are based on the premise that Pakistan occupies a special and unique place in our scheme of things,” he stated.  President Gul told his Pakistani counterpart that he will send a team of private entrepreneurs to Pakistan to examine the proposals for investment in projects mentioned by the Pakistani President. Zardari offered Turkish companies’ participation in reclamation of 2.5 million acres of land now under sea on the basis of public-private partnership in which the Turkish companies will be allowed to set up economic ventures of their own on part of the reclaimed land.  President Zardari also invited Turkish companies to invest in the proposed project of building a new city ‘Zulfiqarabad’ in Sindh to ease pressure on the province’s mega cities. During negotiations, the two sides discussed many aspects of their cooperation in joint investment projects, security, defence, energy, infrastructure and trade and agreed on steps to boost collaboration in these fields. Cooperation between civil aviation of the two countries also came up in the talks with President Gul declaring that Turkey will never seek an arrangement that put Pakistan to any disadvantage. Turkish affection for their Pakistani brethren was on full display during the maiden bilateral visit of the President.  People of Turkey and Pakistan have common religion, culture and hundreds of common words in their languages and Turks appreciate role of Muslims of sub-continent in their war of independence in the early 20th century.  Before this visit, President Zardari made five visits to attend trilateral Pakistan-Afghanistan-Turkey summits and international conferences. Turkish President acknowledged the contribution of President Zardari in promoting Pak-Turkey bilateral ties by conferring on him highest state order medal Devlet Nishan in an impressive investiture ceremony at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. President Zardari visited mausoleum (Anit Kabir) of founder of modern Turkey, leader of its war of independence and first President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to pay homage. APP