Pakistan’s envoy thankful for Turkish support to Kashmir

ANKARA: Pakistan’s ambassador Syrus Sajjad Qazi has expressed deep gratitude for the people and government of Turkey for their consistent, principled and just support for the resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.

The ambassador was speaking at an event to mark Kashmir Black Day on 27 October organised by the Anadolu Youth Association attended by nearly hundred youth representatives from across Turkey

He said that millions of Kashmiris across the globe mark Black Day on 27 October when in 1947 the  Muslim-majority state of Jammu & Kashmir was forcibly occupied by India against the wishes and aspiration of the Kashmiris.

This illegal aggression, he added, resulted not only in one of the worst human rights situations of recent times, but also gave birth to a protracted dispute that continued to threaten regional and international peace and security.

Ambassador Qazi underlined that India continues to blatantly violate relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir that guaranteed Kashmiris their right to self-determination.

He added that India’s illegal and unilateral steps of 5 August 2019, yet again, were in direct contravention of these resolutions, and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

He also expressed deep concern at the prevailing human rights and humanitarian situation in held Kashmir, as well as at the rising tide of right-wing Hindu extremism and Islamophobia in India that continues to target Muslims in general and Kashmiris in particular.

He thanked members of the Anadolu Youth Association for highlighting the issue as well as for raising their voice in support of the oppressed Kashmiris.

He emphasised that the international community must fulfill its moral responsibility by ending the ongoing Indian atrocities in Kashmir and allow Kashmiris their right to self-determination.