The outgoing Ambassador of Turkey Tunca Ozcuhadar paid a farewell call on the Defence Secretary Major General (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne at the Ministry.
During the farewell meeting, Ambassador Ozcuhadar and the Major General Gunaratne discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral relations, including defence and security matters, enhancing training opportunities for Security Forces between the two countries, intelligence sharing and enhancing bilateral cooperation.
The Ambassador emphasized that the Muslims were not involved in the Easter Sunday attacks on churches in April 2019 and the Muslim community was always supporting the Government and the people.
In response, Major General Kamal Gunaratne said that the incidents, which took place at Digana, Kandy, were disputes between two communities. Similar events will not happen under the present Government as it was fully committed to bring the culprits to the book to ensure safety and protection for all communities in the country.
He further said that the people of the country would be equally treated as Sri Lankans irrespective of their ethnicity and the religion. He also said that Islam is a religion of peace and harmony that preaches unity among the communities and the actions of a few misguided youth could not be attributed to that great religion.
Thanking the Ambassador Ozcuhadar’s service during his tenure in Sri Lanka, the Defence Secretary wished him well in all his future endeavors.
Third Secretary of the Turkish Embassy in Colombo, Nazan Deniz was also present at the occasion.
