–Visits Pakistan Consulate, meets with president of the religious affairs of Turkey
ISTANBUL: Minister of State for Inferior Shehryar Afridi is leading Pakistan’s delegation to the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Budapest Process being held from February 19-21 in Istanbul with the aim of promoting safe and regular migration.
Upon his arrival at Ataturk Airport Istanbul, he was received by Turkish Minister for Interior Süleyman Soylu and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Turkey Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi. Both counterparts also had a brief meeting. During the meeting, the special nature of Pakistan-Turkey relations was emphasised. It was noted that bilateral cooperation was flourishing in the political, economic, investment, defence, education and cultural spheres. Matters of mutual interest, including sharing experience in the fight against terrorism, countering money laundering, curbing illegal migration, etc. were also discussed. Afridi lauded Turkey’s excellent arrangements for hosting millions of Syrian refugees.
Afridi paid a surprise visit to Pakistan Consulate General in Istanbul. He expressed satisfaction at various services offered by the consulate, including visa facilitation, passports, etc. He mingled with Pakistanis visiting the consulate for various consular matters. Pakistan Consul General Bilal Khan Pasha briefed the minister on the issues faced by Pakistanis in Turkey.
Afridi also called on President of Religious Affairs of Turkey Prof Ali Erbaş. Both sides discussed collaboration in the reform of religious education system. Afridi showed a keen desire to learn from the Turkish Imam Hatip School system. The Turkish model of Imam Hatip School is a fusion of Islamic and modern education as it contains as many arts and science classes as normal high schools do.
