Pakistan Embassy in Ankara observed National Day on Tuesday by hosting the country’s flag and reaffirming its commitment to the “vision of its forefathers.” Ambassador Syrus Sajjad Qazi hoisted the flag to the tune of Pakistan’s national anthem.
A limited number of Pakistani communities in the Turkish capital witnessed the flag hoisting ceremony due to local regulations of public gatherings in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. The messages of the president and prime minister of Pakistan were read out on occasion.
To mark the occasion, one of Ankara’s landmarks, “Atakule,” lit up in solidarity messages of Pakistan-Turkey relations on the nights of March 22 and 23. Besides, all the three bridges in Istanbul on the Bosporus linking Asia with Europe would be illuminated in Pakistan flag colors on Tuesday evening.
Addressing the gathering, Qazi said March 23 is Pakistan National Day and that “we dedicate ourselves to the vision of our leaders and forefathers.”
The day commemorates the adoption of the Pakistan Resolution on March 23, 1940, at a summit of Muslim leaders in Lahore city in which the subcontinent’s Muslim leaders set the agenda for a separate homeland for Muslims.
Seven years after the Pakistan Resolution was adopted, Pakistan became an independent and sovereign state on August 14, 1947, under Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s leadership, popular as Quaid-e-Azam or the great leader.
On March 23, 1956, the country also adopted its first constitution, making Pakistan the world’s first Islamic republic.
Qazi thanked Turkey, its government, and its people for “standing side by side with Pakistan, particularly on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, on which Turkey has taken an admirable and principled position.”
To participate in the National Day celebrations, Turkey sent Turkish band Mehter (Ottoman Janissary Band) as well as the aerial aerobatic team Solo Turk.
Qazi and Turgut Altinok, mayor of Ankara’s Kecioren Municipality, jointly unveiled a plaque commemorating the 2014 Army Public School terrorist attack victims Peshawar.
As a mark of respect and expression of solidarity, Kecioren Municipality and the Youth Wing of the Justice and Development (AK) Party planted 144 trees in 2015, one for each martyred, at the AK Party Memorial Forest in Kecioren for the martyred students and staff.
