Pak Goodness Ship’ arriving from Turkey soon

ISLAMABAD: The Turkish ambassador to Pakistan Dr Mehmet Pacaci expressed his hope on Wednesday, that the conference on combating disinformation and Islamophobia under the auspices of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) from tomorrow (Friday) in Istanbul, would go a long way in attaining its objectives.

“The two-day conference aspires to evolve a comprehensive strategy to deal with baseless allegations against Islam and Muslims, the ambassador stressed.Dr Mehmet, who is an acclaimed Muslim scholar and writes extensively on Islamophobia, has contributed greatly in curbing the vicious trend through his talks, was speaking to the media at the Turkish mission in the diplomatic enclave on Wednesday. During the occasion, the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority’s (AFAD) Vice President Onder Bozkurt gave details of the Turkish assistance for the flood-victims in Pakistan.

Mehmet said that the Istanbul event would discuss ways to confront Islamophobia and present the true image of Islam, strengthen the role of the media in confronting terrorism, and develop media training and expertise in the Muslim world.

Pakistan will be represented by the federal Information and Broadcasting minister Marriyum Orangzaib, who is leaving for Istanbul today (Thursday).

The Turkish envoy was of the view that Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia have made up their mind to set up a TV channel for countering the vicious propaganda against Islam and Muslims.“It is very likely a plan would be formalised in the conference. Other Muslim countries including from those in the Middle East would also be playing their role in this effort. The importance of boosting media coverage on the Palestinian issue will be discussed as well,” he said.

The OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim will address the opening session of the conference where he will focus on the role of the OIC in various fields of information that would benefit member states. Mehmet Pacaci said that Islamophobia is a common cause of concern between Pakistan and Turkey, like many other Muslim countries. “We must confront such trends with full force and prudence,” he elaborated.

While dilating upon Turkey’s humanitarian assistance to the flood victims, AFAD)’s Vice President Onder Bozkurt said that over 30 million people have been adversely affected, more than a thousand people have lost their lives, hundreds of thousands of houses have been destroyed, and thousands of animals have perished in the flood disaster caused due to the monsoon rains that began last June.

“It has been reported by Pakistani authorities that approximately 35 billion dollars of financial damage occurred due to the flood disaster,” he said. Bozkurt said that ‘Goodness Train Expeditions’ were established in cooperation with the Türkiye Ministry of Transport, and an Air Bridge was established in cooperation with the Türkiye Ministry of National Defence. In addition, preparations have been started for the ‘Pakistan Goodness Ship’ expedition, which will depart from Türkiye soon.

He said that as of today a total of 15 planes carrying aid, 13 ‘Goodness Train Expeditions’ and 35,152 family tents, 467.227 food parcels and cleaning materials (7.000 plane, 408.847 train, 51.380 local), 2.826.468 units of medical supplies, 53.466 blankets, mattresses, pillows, etc., 6.555 kitchen kits, 34.219 units of clothing and carpet, 2 mobile health units and camps, 50 motorboats were sent.

The first humanitarian aid plane to reach Pakistan was on 28 August 2022, after establishing an air bridge.A total of about 227 tons of humanitarian aid (mostly medical products) materials have been transported on 15 planes shipped from Turkey so far. Referring to the goodness trains, Bozkurt said that under the coordination of our AFAD, together with our 22 NGOs, a total of 334 wagons on 13 goodness trains, consisting of tents and humanitarian aid materials, and 7.222 tons of aid materials (408.847 food and hygiene packages) were sent to Pakistan.

The aid materials are delivered to the logistics warehouse in Quetta, and then to the disaster-affected areas by trucks under the coordination of the Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

He said that 51.380 food packages were distributed to the disaster victims and distribution continues in the designated disaster areas.In total, 35.152 tents were set up and dispatched in 44 different regions under the coordination of the AFAD. He revealed that a total of 77 personnel (19 AFAD personnel, 3 health teams and 53 NGO representatives, 2 academicians) have worked in Pakistan so far to coordinate the distribution of aid materials sent to the region by our presidency and to assist in the establishment of tent cities. Bozkurt said that Turkey is developing a system with Pakistan, where both brotherly countries would assist each other in case of any emergency.