Turkish parliament speaker says Ankara has not forgotten friendship of Indian Muslims during independence war.
DESPARDES — Turkey believes standing by Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir is its duty, said Turkish parliament speaker Mustafa Sentop as lawmakers opened their third legislative session of the year in the capital Ankara on Tuesday.
Indian-occupied Kashmir has been facing a clampdown since August 5, when the New Delhi revoked Article 370 of the Constitution, which conferred it a special status. Hundreds of people, mostly politicians, have been detained by authorities since then.
“Our nation has not forgotten the friendship of Indian Muslims,” Sentop said, referring to the support of Indian Muslims to the Turkish War of Independence about a century ago. He added that the Turkish nation condemned state terrorism carried out by Israel in Palestine and reiterated that people stand by “brotherly Palestine”.
Sentop’s statement as reported by Anadolu Agency comes days after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan received praise for being the only leader who has raised voice for the Muslims suffering in different countries.
Erdogan took the center stage last week during the UN General Assembly session as he criticized world leaders for failing to resolve troubles in Palestine and Kashmir.
His speech drew immediate reaction on Twitter where #OurVoiceErdogan became one of the top ten globally trending hashtag with more than 330,000 tweets. Erdogan has a huge following in Pakistan where Twitter overflowed with praise for the Turkish leader.
“In order for the Kashmiri people to look at a safe future together with their Pakistani and Indian neighbors, it is imperative to solve the problem through dialogue and on the basis of justice and equity, but not through collision,” said Erdogan.
The disputed Kashmir territory is which divided between Pakistan and India has long been a source of conflict between the two countries.
Prime Minister Imran Khan thanked Erdogan for taking the issue to the UN.
“I thank Turkey’s President Erdogan for raising the issue of IOJK in the UN General Assembly & calling for a solution to this long-standing dispute. Referring to the siege of IOJK, he pointed out that despite UN resolutions, 8 million people are stuck in IOJK.”
