Islamabad  -   President Asif Ali Zardari conferred the award of Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) upon General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, Commander of Turkish Land Forces, during a special investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr, on Monday.

He conferred the award in recognition of his services in promoting and strengthening defence relations between Pakistan and Turkiye. Later, the visiting Commander of Turkish Land Forces, General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, also called on the President, at Aiwane- Sadr, on Monday.

The meeting discussed matters pertaining to defence cooperation between the two brotherly countries. Both sides emphasised the need for further expanding bilateral ties for the mutual benefit of Pakistan and Turkiye.

Talking to the Commander of Turkish Land Forces, the President said that Pakistan was proud of its relations with Turkiye, which had always supported Pakistan on core issues. He expressed satis­faction over the collabora­tion between Pakistan and Turkiye on a number of projects that would further strengthen bilateral ties. The President highlight­ed the need for increasing people-to-people contacts, as well as promoting coop­eration in the areas of agri­culture, education, art and culture to bring the peo­ple of Pakistan and Turki­ye further closer. He said that President Recep Tayy­ip Erdoğan was a true and sincere friend of Pakistan who had made telephonic calls to him on his election as well as at the beginning of Ramzan-ul-Mubarak. This, he added, showed his commitment to broadening Pak-Turkiye ties. Command­er of Turkish Land Forces, General Selcuk Bayraktaro­glu, reiterated the desire to further improve defence cooperation with Pakistan. He said that both countries could significantly contrib­ute to the promotion of re­gional peace and stability. The President congratulat­ed the Commander of Turk­ish Land Forces on receiv­ing the Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) and hoped that he would continue to play his role to further strength­en defence cooperation be­tween the two brotherly countries.