Pakistan to confer eminent award to Turkish lawmaker

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan will confer the country's prestigious award to a Turkish lawmaker, Ali Sahin, in recognition of his services to promoting friendship between the two countries.

"President Mr Arif Alvi honored me with Sitar-e-Quaid-e-Azam award which will be presented to me on Aug. 14, on the country's Independence Day," Sahin told Anadolu Agency.

Sahin, who is a member of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, studied in Pakistan and speaks Urdu.

He is chairman of the Pakistan-Turkey friendship parliamentary group.

When Sahin served as Turkey’s deputy EU minister in early 2016, Manra Bibi, a Pakistani mother, wrote to him seeking the return of the body of her son Salman Khan, who had died along the Turkish-Bulgarian border.

Sahin made sure the body got back to the grieving mother, an act widely-covered and praised in the Pakistani media.

The Pakistani state award is presented to politicians, artists, athletes, scholars, and business people who add value to the country’s foreign relations.