Turkey and Pakistan: bonded by common faith, heritage

The Alliance Francaise, Karachi, was host to a highly informative pictorial exhibition on Wednesday evening, highlighting various landmarks in Pakistan and Turkey that speak of the commonalities between the two countries and cultures.

The photographs, around 40 of them, depicted almost each and every aspect of life in both the countries as also the way of life.

The colour transparencies have been taken by Erkurt Onart, father of the current Turkish consul general in town, Murat Onart. In his very brief speech, Onart senior described how happy he was to be in Pakistan again. 

He said that it was his eighth or ninth visit to Pakistan, but each time he seemed to enjoy it all the more. He said he was very happy to be back in Pakistan.

The Turkish consul general thanked the large gathering for having turned up in such large numbers. He talked of his family’s long relationship with Pakistan and the close, cordial links between the people of the two countries. He said that the goodwill for the people of Pakistan in Turkey would grow from day to day.

The director of the Alliance Francaise, Karachi, JF Chenin, said his organisation was highly honoured to host the exhibition highlighting the cultural heritage of both countries.

Then there’s one of the Makli necropolis which oozes history of the subcontinent and trends in architecture of the day. It also oozes history in photographs like the one of an ancient Roman amphitheatre. 

Then there’s one of the Ranikot fort in Sindh. However, mention of Turkey would not be complete without  the whirling Derveshes. There are two shots, one in Pakistan and one in Turkey depicting whirling Derveshes.

There’s one of a street scene in Istanbul depicting immaculate cleanliness. Seeing that shot, one would really wish that our streets too could be as clean, neat and tidy.

The exhibition, which runs up until May 21, is a must-see both for history buffs and those interested in travel.