RAWALPINDI: Com­man­der of the Turkish Land Forces General Salih Zeki Colak on Tuesday visited the General Headquarters and called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif.

During the meeting, a wide range of issues of mut­ual interest including defe­nce, security cooperation, training and measures contributing towards regional stability came under discussion, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release here stated.

General Salih Zeki Colak was given a detailed briefing on operational, intelligence and training aspects of Pakistan Army.

The visiting dignitary lau­d­ed the achievements of Pak­is­­tan Army and sacrifices made in the fight against terrorism.

Earlier on arrival at the General Headquarters, Com­mander of the Turkish Land Forces laid a wreath at Yadgar-i-Shuhada.

A smartly turned-out contingent of Pakistan Army presented the guard of honour to the visiting dignitary.

The delegation is scheduled to visit training institutions including recently established state of the art National Counter Terrorism Centre at Pabbi.

KHAWAJA ASIF: General Salih Zeki Colak also called on Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif in his office on Tuesday and discussed matters of mutual interest.

The minister appreciated the exemplary and historic brotherly relations between Pakistan and Turkey.

He ex­­pressed Pakistan’s strong desire to deepen, broaden and strengthen Pakistan-Turkey relations in the field of defence, a press release said.

Both the leaders discussed issues of mutual interest including extremism, terrorism and flow of refugees across the borders.

The defence minister also apprised the Turkish general of Pakistan’s success in operation Zarb-i-Azb and National Action Plan.

ITALIAN MINISTER: Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti also called on the COAS and lauded successes and achievements of operation Zarb-i-Azb.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2016