Turkish president visits Iqbal’s mausoleum, Badshahi Mosque

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

LAHORE: Turkish President Abdullah Gul, and around 200 Turkish officials, arrived in Lahore on Thursday on a two-day visit.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Governor Salmaan Taseer along with ministers and senior officials welcomed Gul at the Allama Iqbal International Airport. The Turkish president visited the mausoleum of Allama Muhammad Iqbal to lay a floral wreath and also met the prayer leader of the Badshahi Mosque.

Shahbaz and Interior Minister Rehman Malik accompanied Gul to Iqbal’s mausoleum, where Governor Salmaan Taseer, Punjab Auqaf Minister Ehsanuddin Qureshi, Punjab Rangers Director General Maj Gen Muhammad Yaqoob Khan, Lahore Commissioner Khusro Pervaiz and DCO Sajjad Bhutta welcomed the Turkish delegates.

The Turkish president also inspected a guard of honour after offering fateha at Iqbal’s grave. Recording his impressions in the visitors’ book, Gul paid rich tribute to the visionary poet, whose poetry, he said, breathed a new soul in the Muslims of the subcontinent.

He said Iqbal’s poetry was a shared legacy for the people of both Pakistan and Turkey.

Later, the visiting president was shown around the Badshahi mosque, during which he admired the grandeur of the masterpiece of Mughal architecture. staff report