Turkey and Pakistan Challenge Islamic World

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer welcomed his Pakistani counterpart at the Cankaya Presidential Residence and expressed his pleasure at having Muserref in Turkey.

The Pakistani leader said that both parties would sign economic accords as well as an agreement to combine their efforts in the fight against terrorism. He emphasized the significance of a joint-stance against terrorism.

After meeting with Sezer, Muserref received Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In a speech to the Turkish parliament, Muserref stressed that Turkey and Pakistan, both recently having been targets of terrorist attacks, should not let the terrorist networks to take the Muslim countries hostage.

Pointing out some of the weakness and problems that have prevented the Muslim countries from uniting, Muserref said Turkey and Pakistan should together take the initiative to change this ill-fate of the Islamic World.

Muserref also emphasized the importance of Turkey’s European Union (EU) membership process and gave his full backing to Turkey on the issues of Iraq’s territorial integrity and the Cyprus problem. He concluded by stating that Pakistan and India have started the negotiation process to solve the Kashmir issue and that Pakistanis are taking important strides towards democracy.