President visits mausoleum of Ataturk, pays homage to Turkish leader

ANKARA, April 12: President Asif Ali Zardari here on Tuesday visited the mausoleum (Anitkabir) of the founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and paid homage to the leader of Turkish war of independence. The President laid a wreath at the grave of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and stood silent for sometime in respect to Ataturk, who was the first President of Turkey.President Zardari later wrote remarks in a special note book placed at the site stating, “It is a great honour for me to pay homage to Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha, an illustrious soldier, a great reformer and a visionary statesman.”

“Modern Turkey is the living testimony of the glory of Ataturk’s great accomplishments. It is a mark of Ataturk’s greatness that his rejection of imperialism and espousal of the principles of sovereignty and non-interference are now accepted as pillars of a peaceful world order. Indeed he has left deep imprints on the sands of history,” he observed. 
“Turkey and Pakistan share the same ideals and strive for common goals,” he remarked adding, “I have no doubt that together we will march along the road to greater progress and prosperity and fulfil our common destinies.”  
The President was accompanied by Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and other members of his entourage.
The President was told by his Turkish hosts about the history and architectural features of the mausoleum, whose construction was completed by 1953.
The memorial tomb is also the final resting place of Ismet Inonu, the second President of Turkey, who was buried here after he died in 1973. His tomb faces the Ataturk Mausoleum, on the opposite side of the ceremonial ground.
President Zardari is on a four-day official visit to Turkey to bolster economic and trade ties and further build on the already strong fraternal relations rooted in common history, culture and religion of the two countries.