Islamabad:
Ambassador to the Republic of Türkiye, Irfan Neziroglu, Tuesday, expressed his appreciation of the strong literary, cultural, social and political relations between Türkiye and Pakistan and emphasized the need to elaborate on these ties.
He emphasized the importance of renewed institutional partnerships, collaborative translation initiatives and the organization of common literary and cultural events.
Such an effort, he noted, will not only promote mutual literary interests and celebrate shared cultural heroes, but also strengthen people-to-human relations and mutual understanding between the two nations.
The Turkish envoy expressed these words during a visit to the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL), where he held a meeting with its chairman, Dr. Najeba Arif.
Also present was Dr. Halil Toker – celebrated Turkish author, translator and intellectuals and director of the Yunus Emre Institute in Pakistan – as well as PAL’s Director General, Sultan Muhammad Nawaz Nasir.
The meeting focused on promoting literary and cultural ties between Pakistan and Türkiye. Dr. Najeba informed the ambassador of the Academy’s initiatives, including promoting literature in Pakistani languages, welfare programs for authors, its publication efforts and literary translation projects with international partners.
She also referred to the former Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Istanbul University and Academy and highlighted key publications that reflect many years of literary collaboration.
However, in 1991 Pal published a book on the prominent Turkish poet Yunus Emre. In 2022, as part of its recognized series Pakistani Adab Ke Me’Maar, the Academy published Dr. Halil Toker: Shakhsiyat Aur Funn. The same year it also published Jadeed Turki AFSANA, a collection translated to Urdu by Dr. Halil Toker and Samina Toker.
Dr. Najeba also shared that the Academy regularly contains translations of Turkish literary works in his quarterly journal Adabiyat. Over the years, several Turkish authors have visited Pakistan and participated in international conferences organized by the Academy.
Dr. Najeba Arif also praised contributions from Turkish scholars to Urdu literature, especially recognizing 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 Yunus Emre Institute in the coming months.
At the end of the meeting, Dr. Najeba Arif A selection of the Academy’s publications for his excellency Mr Irfan Neziroglu and Dr. Halil toker.
