Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcome ceremony for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before their talks in Beijing, capital of China, July 2, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

HONG KONG - Chinese President Xi Jinping and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been awarded the title of “Man of the Year 2020” by Pakistan Observer based in Islamabad.

Faisal Zahid Malik, editor-in-chief of Pakistan Observer, said both leaders have showed “legendary qualities of leadership, staunchly defending national interests of their respective countries during challenging times and winning hearts and minds of people of Pakistan for sincere and steadfast support to their country”.

Though the annual award is usually bestowed to a Pakistan national, this year the paper’s editorial board and its network of selection found that, “President Xi Jinping and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan deserve the coveted title for their visionary leadership, sound domestic and foreign policies and, above all, their clear-headed strategies aimed at expanding and deepening multi-pronged relations with Pakistan.”

The award is carried out on the basis of assessment of personality traits, performance, achievements and, in this case, contribution to the cause of Pakistan by personalities at home and abroad. 

 “Our contributors also pointed out that both President Xi and President Erdogan believe in peaceful coexistence and strengthening of bilateral and multilateral cooperation for holistically sharing fruits of economic development and innovations,” said Malik.