Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) leading a delegation visited the Embassy of Turkiye and presented a cheque of Rs.4 million to H.E. Dr. Mehmet Pacaci, Ambassador as a token of support for the help and rehabilitation of earthquake victims of Turkiye.

Speaking at the occasion, Ahsan Bakhtawari said that Pakistan and Turkiye have deep rooted relations and the Pakistani nation stands in complete solidarity with the brotherly people of Türkiye in the wake of the unprecedented earthquake that struck it in February 2023. He said the entire Pakistani nation is saddened over the huge damage and loss of lives caused by the earthquake. He said that the business community of Pakistan will continue to provide all possible support to the people of Türkiye in the post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction process. He said that Turkiye is one of the best friends of Pakistan and Pakistan would never forget the support of Turkiye during the earthquake of October 2005 and devastating floods of 2010 and 2022 in Pakistan. He assured that ICCI would continue to provide more financial support to the people of Turkiye in these difficult times. He also discussed the matters for further improving bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Turkiye.

H.E. Dr Mehmet Paçaci Ambassador of Turkiye thanked ICCI delegation for visiting his Embassy to express solidarity with the people of Turkiye and to provide financial support. He also expressed gratitude to the leadership and the people of Pakistan for extending humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of the massive earthquake in his country. He said that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was the first foreign leader who visited Turkiye after the devastating earthquake to express solidarity with the people of Turkiye, which showed Pakistan’s love and affection for his country. He said that Pakistan has already sent hundreds of tons of relief goods, including winter tents, clothes, blankets, and food items, to quake-hit areas of Turkiye and is still sending relief goods on a daily basis for which the entire nation of Turkiye is thankful to Pakistan.

Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI said that this natural calamity has brought both brotherly countries closer and added that bilateral relations between Turkiye and Pakistan would continue to strengthen day by day.

Engr. Muhammad Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI said that the people of Pakistan consider Turkiye their second home and would always stand with them in every thin and thick hour.

Zafar Bakhtawari, Rizwan Chheena, Raja Imtiaz Abbasi, Ch. Javed Iqbal, Muhammad Yahya, Rohail Anwar Butt, Zial ul Haq Abbasi, Shahid Abbasi, Amin ur Rehman, Khalid Mehmood and others also spoke at the occasion and expressed resolved that Pakistani business community would continue to provide support to the people of Turkiye in their rehabilitation process.