Pakistan Zindabad! Esra Bilgic extends Independence Day wishes

Turkish bombshell actress Esra Bilgiç, who starred as Halime Sultan in the hit TV series Resurrection: Ertugrul, extended wishes to her Pakistani fans on the country’s 74th Independence Day.

Wearing traditional attire, “I am Esra Bilgic and on this 14th August, I would like to personally wish you all Jashn-e-Azadi Mubarak. Pakistan Zindabad,” Bilgiç said in a video posted on the social media websites of Pakistani mobile company Jazz Digital.

Bilgiç, who is the newest face of the company, had previously expressed her desire to collaborate with several of Pakistan’s most-loved brands.

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, the hit TV series 'Resurrection: Ertuğrul depicts the 13th century Anatolia and tells the story before the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire's first leader.

Ertugrul Gazi, the father of Osman I who laid the foundations of the Ottoman Empire, surged to fame in Pakistan when Prime Minister Imran Khan endorsed the series and said watching it would promote "Islamic history and ethics" among the country's youth.

State-run broadcaster, Pakistan Television (PTV) began airing the series with Urdu dubbing in April this year.

Pakistan's 74th Independence Day dawned with a 31-gun salute in capital Islamabad and a 21-gun salute in all the four provincial capitals, followed by change-of-guards ceremonies at the mausoleums of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of South Asian nation, in the port city of Karachi, and Allama Mohammad Iqbal, the national poet, in northeastern city of Lahore.

Similar ceremonies were also held in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, state-run Pakistan Television reported.

The main ceremony was held at the President Office where President Arif Alvi hoisted the national flag. Heads of the lower house National Assembly, and the upper house Senate, chiefs of the three armed forces, ministers, and senior government officials also attended the ceremony.