Turkish students complete Urdu course in Pakistan

The first batch of Turkish students have completed their Urdu language course in a major university of Pakistan, an official said on Friday.

A graduation ceremony was held at the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) in the capital Islamabad, which was attended by Turkey's ambassador to Pakistan Mustafa Yurdakul, said a statement issued by the university.

Addressing the ceremony, the Turkish ambassador said that his government will encourage cooperative partnership among universities of the two countries.

"I am excited to see that a group of Turkish students got themselves well educated in Urdu language and they are able to read, write and speak it," Yurdakul said.

Welcoming the ambassador, Vice Chancellor professor Zia-Ul-Qayyum said he cherished Pakistan's deep-rooted relations with Turkey and hoped to be strong partners in the educational sector.

"We will soon prepare a 'concept paper' to further strengthen bilateral ties at the universities' level," the vice chancellor announced.

Our university is actively engaged in enhancing its international collaboration particularly with the Central Asia states and Pakistan's great friends like Turkey, he added.

The first group of five Turkish students arrived in Pakistan in July.

During their six-week stay in Pakistan, the students also acquainted themselves with Pakistani culture and its historical traditions, while visiting Lahore, Peshawar and some other cities.