Islamabad:
The Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye, Irfan Neziroglu, expressed his appreciation on Tuesday for literary, cultural, social and strong political relations between Türkiye and Pakistan, stressing the need to deepen these links.
He stressed the importance of renewed institutional partnerships, collaborative translation initiatives and the organization of joint literary and cultural events.
Such efforts, he noted, will only advance mutual literary interests and will not celebrate shared cultural heroes, but also strengthens the links of people to the person and mutual understanding between the two nations.
The Turkish envoy pronounced these words during a visit to the Academy of Letters (PAL) of Pakistan where he held a meeting with its president, Dr. Najeeba Arif.
Dr. Halil toker – famous Turkish writer, translator and intellectual, and director of the Yunus Emre Institute in Pakistan – as well as the director general of Pal, Sultan Muhammad Nawaz Nasir.
The meeting focused on promoting literary and cultural links between Pakistan and Türkiye. Dr. Najeeba informed the Ambassador of Academy’s initiatives, including the promotion of literature in Pakistani languages, social protection programs for writers, publication efforts and literary translation projects with international partners.
She also referred to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Istanbul University and the Academy, and highlighted key publications which reflect a long -standing literary collaboration.
In particular, in 1991, PAL published a book on the eminent Turkish poet Yunus Emre. In 2022, as part of its famous Pakistani series Adab Ke Me’maar, the Academy published Dr. Halil Toker: Shakhsiyat Aur Funn. The same year, he also published Jadeed Turki AFSANA, a collection translated into Ourdou by Dr. Halil Toker and Samina Toker.
Dr. Najeeba also shared that the Academy regularly presents translations of Turkish literary works in its quarterly review Adabiyat. Over the years, several Turkish writers have visited Pakistan and have participated in international conferences organized by the Academy.
Dr. Najeeba Arif also congratulated the contributions of Turkish scholars to our literature in Ourdou, recognizing in particular the efforts of Dr. Halil toker, Dr. Asuman Belen Özcan and Dr Dawood Shahbaz. The meeting also included discussions on the launch of joint literary projects between PAL and the Yunus Emre Institute in the coming months.
At the end of the meeting, Dr. Najeeba Arif presented a selection of publications from the Academy to His Excellency Mr. Irfan Neziroglu and Dr. Halil Toker.
