Erdogan Calls for Resolution of Kashmir at UN General Assembly

New Delhi, 23 Sep 2020 [Fik/News Sources]: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is vying for the leadership of Islamic nations, brought up the Kashmir issue again at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday calling it a “burning issue”.

He criticised the abolition of the special status of Kashmir last year saying that steps taken after it “further complicated the problem”.

“The Kashmir conflict which is also key to the stability and peace of South Asia is still a burning issue,” he said.

“We are in favour of solving this issue through dialogue within the framework of the United Nations resolutions, especially in line with the expectations of the people of Kashmir,” he added.

Erdogan avoided naming India directly, while he had named countries in many of the conflicts from Azerbaijan to Armenia that he spoke about.

At last year’s high-level meeting of the General Assembly, only Erdogan and Mahatir Mohamed, the then-Prime Minister of Malaysia, joined Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to talk about Kashmir.

In his attempt to challenge the Saudi leadership of the Islamic nations, he criticised attempts to bring about reconciliation with Israel, but did not directly mention the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which recently set up diplomatic resolution with Israel, with the apparent approval of Riyadh.

“Participation of some countries of the region in this game does not mean anything beyond serving Israel’s efforts to erode basic international parameters,” Erdogan said.

India Slams Turkey

Meanwhile on Tuesday, India slammed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his remarks on Kashmir, saying the latter’s speech constitutes “gross interference” in India’s internal affairs and is “completely unacceptable.”

“We have seen remarks by President of Turkey on Indian UT of Jammu and Kashmir. They constitute gross interference in India’s internal affairs and are completely unacceptable. Turkey should learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations and reflect on its policies more deeply,” India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, TS Tirumurti tweeted.

— IANS (inputs added)