Glimpses of Turkish generosity towards Pakistan

LAHORE: Turkish rulers, businessmen and general public have often displayed exceptional magnanimity to alleviate human sufferings, especially whenever the Pakistanis have needed such help from this transcontinental parliamentary republic bordered by eight countries and located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.
When the late July 2010 floods had literally decimated Pakistan by inundating up to one fifth of the country and had gone on to affect an estimated 20 million people, the wife of the then Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had donated her necklace, her husband’s wedding gift for her, besides contributing Turkish Lira 100,000 (equivalent to US$40,752 of today) for the noble humanitarian cause.
During her October 2010 visit to Pakistan, Mrs Erdogan had given her necklace to Mrs. Fawziya Gilani, the wife of the then Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, with a desire that the piece of her personal jewellery should be donated to any flood-stricken girl in her dowry.
Although the Turkish people had bought the necklace in an auction and gave it back to her, Mrs. Emine Gulbaran Erdogan had again donated it to the flood victims.
When former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani had arrived in a camp near the city of Dadu, it was found that eight girls from the floods victims were to get married, so the necklace was auctioned again and was bought by Ali Arshad Hakim, the then Chairman of National Database Registration Authority (Nadra), for Rs1.6 million and the amount was equally divided among eight girls.
Ali Arshad Hakim then gave this necklace back to Prime Minister Yusuf Reza Gilani, who had later conferred “Hilal-i-Pakistan,” the country’s highest civilian medal for her praiseworthy efforts.
This necklace is now on display in a showcase placed in the Prime Minister House, Islamabad, and it has since become a unique symbol of Pak-Turk friendship.
Overall, as the September 30, 2010 edition of a prestigious British newspaper “The Guardian” reveals, Turkey had committed US$14,649,272 for the flood-stricken Pakistanis in 2010.
A Turkish businesswoman Semahat Arsel had donated Turkish Lira 500,000 (equivalent to over US$ 203,757), while her compatriot businessmen Suleyman Varlibas and Yigit Bulut had contributed Turkish Lira 350,000 (equivalent to over US$142,630) and Turkish Lira 300,000 (equivalent to US$122,254) respectively.
Last but not least, a nine-year old Turkish girl Merve Tekinay had donated her savings of $83.72 and her only doll for the cause.It is imperative to note that despite a strong friendship bond, the bilateral volume of trade between Pakistan and Turkey had plummeted to US$621.5 million in 2013, as compared to US$1.2 billion in 2011.