Turkey hosts international conference on Kashmir

Speakers reiterate that voice of Kashmiris integral to any future solution

Conflicts 12:13 21.11.2019
Kashmir is not an internal matter of India, speakers gathered at an international conference in the Turkish capital agreed on Wednesday, Eurasia Diary reports citing Andolu Agency.
 
Kashmir Turmoil: Emerging Threats to Peace and Role of International Community was co-hosted by Turkey’s Institute of Strategic Thinking and Pakistan’s Lahore Center for Peace Research.
 
The speakers added that India's Aug. 5 move to unilaterally scrap the special provisions of the disputed region is a potential trigger to cause instability in South Asia.
 
The provisions allowed Jammu and Kashmir to enact its own laws and protected the region's citizenship law, which barred outsiders from settling in or owning land in the territory.
 
Sherry Rehman, a senator from Pakistan, said: "India is trying to redefine the global order [...] It is doing it by use of power, not soft power.”
 
Rehman said India’s unilateral actions in Kashmir is a “slap on the face of international community and United Nations”.
 
“India’s attempt is not to just contain the resistance [of Kashmiris] but also contain the [Kashmir] story… not to let the news filter out,” Rehman said, about the communications blackout imposed by India in the aftermath of the change in status of the Muslim-majority state.
 
India has since gradually eased the lockdown partially restoring cell phone services.
 
Shamshad Ahmad Khan, a former Pakistani diplomat, warned that if the Kashmir dispute remains unresolved “it will have disastrous consequences as it has become a virtual nuclear flash point”.
 
Khan, who is also chairman of the Lahore Center for Peace Research, said: “India has tried to silence Kashmiris in past. It did not work and it will not work in future too.”
 
India and Pakistan both hold Kashmir in parts and claim it in full. China also controls part of the contested region, but it is India and Pakistan who have fought two wars over Kashmir.
 
India-Israel nexus
 
Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) lawmaker Erkan Akcay said that world faces six key problems: Jerusalem, Cyprus, Kashmir, Crimea, Kashgar (Xinjiang).
 
“If these issues are solved the world will become a better place to live,” he said.
 
According to him, Kashmir has become the frontier of U.S.-China hegemony.
 
“Israel sells weapons to India, while U.S. backs India to counter China,” he said.
 
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party lawmaker Muhammet Amin Abasoglu said the hopes and wishes of Kashmiris are integral to any solution.
 
“1972 Shimla Agreement created a status quo and both – India and Pakistan – should fulfill conditions of this agreement,” he said, noting that the pact bound both parties to resolve the dispute through negotiations.
 
President of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Ali Erbas recalled his school days, saying: “We would raise slogans in favor of struggle of Kashmiris."
 
President of Turkey’s Court of Cassation Ismail Rustu Cirit termed Kashmir as a “bleeding wound”.
 
Former Iranian Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi said: “Kashmir dispute has affected many aspects of the region, including development, and the people of Kashmir as well as Pakistan have suffered a lot for 73 years now.”
 
“[But] Israel has been invited to the region which is dangerous,” he said, referring to growing India-Israel bilateral relations.
 
Pan-South Asia vision
 
U.K.-based Kashmiri lobbyist Lord Nazir Ahmad said that India's ruling party has a pan-South Asian vision called “Akhand Baharat -- Great India”.
 
“The acts of hardcore Hindu nationalists have nothing to do with Hinduism,” he said.
 
“Following what India did in Kashmir, Pakistan should withdraw from bilateral pacts including Shimla Agreement,” he added.
IEPF issued a statement regarding Azerbaijani children at the UN Human Rights Council

News line

Russia accuses Ukrainian military chief of ordering downing of war prisoner plane
22:10 05.07.2025
Türkiye supports firefighting operations in Syria’s Latakia
22:00 05.07.2025
UNRWA calls for immediate fuel delivery to Israel-blockaded Gaza before shutdown of basic services
21:45 05.07.2025
Pashinyan: Armenia needs new constitution
21:20 05.07.2025
UN chief condemns Russia's recent 'series of large-scale' attacks on Ukraine
21:00 05.07.2025
Kazakh servicemen arrive in Azerbaijan to participate in Tarlan - 2025 exercise
20:45 05.07.2025
Erdogan: US has crucial role in achieving ceasefire in Gaza
20:20 05.07.2025
Building collapse in Pakistan kills 15
19:45 05.07.2025
Turkish FM Fidan to attend 17th BRICS Leaders Summit in Rio de Janeiro
19:30 05.07.2025
Australia pledges $283M for green energy project by explosives maker
19:10 05.07.2025
OPEC+ speeds up oil output hikes, adds 548,000 bpd in August
18:45 05.07.2025
Inter completes signing of Ange-Yoan Bonny from Parma
18:20 05.07.2025
Turkish president sees Zangazur corridor 'as part of the geoeconomic revolution'
18:00 05.07.2025
Turkish president urges Azerbaijan, Russia to show restrain amid tension
17:45 05.07.2025
China says war 'not a solution' to Iranian nuclear issue
17:15 05.07.2025
At least 18 people injured after fire alert on Ryanair plane in Majorca as passengers abandon jet & leap from wing
17:00 05.07.2025
Azerbaijani PM meets with UNESCAP executive secretary
16:45 05.07.2025
Lebanese president affirms coordination with Syria, warns against sectarian tensions
16:15 05.07.2025
21 killed in Israeli strikes on tents, school-turned-shelters in Gaza Strip
16:00 05.07.2025
Turkish construction sector takes on international projects worth $6.2B in first half of 2025
15:45 05.07.2025
Azerbaijani woman wrestler becomes European champion
15:30 05.07.2025
Mayor: Death toll in Russian attacks on Kyiv reached two
15:15 05.07.2025
Texas floods kill 24 people and leave many missing from girls' summer camp
14:45 05.07.2025
Conor McGregor has interest in White House fight after Trump's UFC idea
14:30 05.07.2025
Netanyahu era sees 40% surge in Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank
14:15 05.07.2025
Equatorial Guinea sues France in UN court to block sale of Paris mansion
14:00 05.07.2025
US president 'disappointed' over phone call with Putin
13:45 05.07.2025
Academy of Azerbaijan`s State Security Service hosts graduation ceremony
13:30 05.07.2025
Azerbaijan and Pakistan ink memo in Khankendi
13:15 05.07.2025
Trump says there could be Gaza deal next week
13:00 05.07.2025
First flight from Türkiye to Syria launched
12:45 05.07.2025
US marks its 249th anniversary of independence
12:30 05.07.2025
Azerbaijan's role in regional integration discussed at London conference
12:00 05.07.2025
Uzbek Minister: Mirziyoyev's visit to Azerbaijan crucial for dev’t of transport links
11:45 05.07.2025
Trump says US will start talks with China on TikTok deal this week
11:30 05.07.2025
Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif concludes visit to Azerbaijan
11:15 05.07.2025
Pakistani premier proposes low-emissions corridor at Economic Cooperation Organization summit
11:00 05.07.2025
Rwanda pledges to deliver on its part of US-brokered peace deal with DR Congo
10:45 05.07.2025
Hezbollah rejects calls to disarm before end of Israeli ‘aggression’ against Lebanon
10:30 05.07.2025
Trump says Gaza ceasefire deal may come next week after ‘positive’ Hamas response
10:15 05.07.2025
Hamısı