Erdogan again raises Kashmir at UN; calls for India-Pakistan dialogue

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again raised the Kashmir issue saying that resolving it through dialogue by India and Pakistan will lead to regional stability.

“Developments that will pave the way for regional peace, stability and prosperity in South Asia will be the establishment of a just and lasting peace in Kashmir through dialogue and cooperation between India and Pakistan,” he said on Tuesday at the high-level UN General Assembly meeting.

“Turkiye (Turkey) will continue to support the steps to be taken in this direction,” he added.

His latest comment was mild as it had been the last two years and by avoiding references to UN resolutions or a direct mediation offer, it was closer to India’s position that the Kashmir dispute was a bilateral matter.

In 2020, Erdogan called the Kashmir situation a “burning issue” and criticised the abolition of the special status for Kashmir.

The previous year, he had asserted that “despite the resolutions (UN) adopted, Kashmir is still besieged and eight million people are stuck in Kashmir”.

Last year, only Erdogan and then-Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan were the only two leaders to refer to the Kashmir issue while the 191 others ignored it despite Islamabad’s lobbying, showing its isolation in the UN.

Erdogan signalled to the Taliban regime, which has barred women and girls from education in the name of Islam that and most work, that it would be accepted internationally if it gave up the restrictions.

“The transformation of the interim (Afghanistan) government into an inclusive administration in which all segments of society are fairly represented will pave the way for Afghanistan to be positively received in the international arena,” he said.

He criticised China for its treatment of the Uyghur minority, who are mostly Muslim.

“We will continue to express our sensitivity regarding the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of Uyghur Turks, with whom we have strong historical and humanitarian ties,” he said.

Erdogan said that the Security Council “has ceased to be the guarantor of world security and has become a battleground for the political strategies of only five countries”.