Turkish President Erdogan Raises Kashmir Issue in UN General Assembly.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised Kashmir Issue in his address to world leaders at the high-level UN General Assembly session.

This was second year in a row where Erdogan referenced Kashmir. Last year, in his pre-recorded video statement to the General Debate he had made a reference to Jammu and Kashmir.

India at that time termed it as “completely unacceptable”, saying Turkey should learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations and reflect on its own policies more deeply. 

Erdogan in his address to the General Debate on Tuesday said: “We maintain our stance in favour of solving the ongoing problem in Kashmir for 74 years, through dialogue between the parties and within the framework of relevant United Nations resolutions.”

The Turkish President, a close ally of Pakistan, had repeatedly raised the issue of Kashmir in his address to the high-level General Debate.

He had also raised the Kashmir issue during his visit to Pakistan last year.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) at that time had said Erdogan’s remarks reflected neither an understanding of history nor of the conduct of diplomacy and that they would have strong implications on India’s ties with Turkey.

It had said India rejected the repeated attempts by Turkey to justify the cross-border terrorism “practised so blatantly” by Pakistan.

(PTI)