Senator Mushahid Hussain said Pakistan has a proven track record of supporting freedom movements in the Middle East unconditionally as the people of Pakistan had a pan-Islamic ethos, evident in the foreign policies of Quaid-e-Azam as well as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He stated Pakistan provided diplomatic passports to Tunisian and Algerian freedom fighters in the 1950s. “Pakistan was the only non-Arab country which participated in the October 1973 Arab-Israel War and our PAF pilots flying from Syrian airbases shot down Israeli warplanes”, he said, adding Mr Bhutto even offered to provide Pakistan Army troops to Syrian President Hafez al Assad if Damascus came under threat from Israel.
Talking on Pakistan-Turkey relations, he said that both countries enjoy warm people to people friendship as Pakistani and Turkish people have maintained very close long-standing bilateral ties. “To pay tribute to the great contribution of Turkey’s founding leader Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, whom he greatly admired, the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, announced Day of National Mourning, on behalf of All India Muslim League, on the sad demise of Ataturk in 1938”, he informed.
Senator Mushahid said Turkey is a success story and role model for today’s Muslim world because Prime Minister Erdogan has provided good governance, economic development, political stability and independent foreign policy, turning Turkey around in the last 12 years. He was of the view that due to Turkish government’s firm stand on the Freedom Flotilla, Israel was forced to apologize on the insane attack which resulted in death and injury of innocent humanitarian workers, following huge condemnation by the international community. He said the Middle East was in turmoil because of the wide gap between the oppressive rulers and the oppressed ruled, and the ‘power of public opinion’ had revolted against decades of misrule, tyranny and corruption by family-led dynasties.
Nadeem Ahmed Khan, Chairman of Khubaib Foundation, who was present in the flotilla, also spoke to the seminar and praised the courageous role of the Turkish government during the movement of Freedom Flotilla.