Turkey on Monday raised the Kashmir issue at the United Nations Human Rights Council, with a call for resolving the decades-old dispute on the basis of UN resolutions and the “legitimate” expectations of Kashmiri people who are struggling for their right of self-determination.
“We reiterate our call to the Government of India to ease current restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the 47-member Council in Geneva.
“We wish for the resolution of the issue through peaceful means on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions and the legitimate expectations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the Turkish foreign added.
Read more: Peace in South Asia linked to Kashmir: Turkish lawmaker
The Council on Monday began its month-long, 46th session, which is being held almost entirely remotely to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In Washington, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Secretary-General of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum, welcomed Cavusoglu’s remarks about the deteriorating situation in Indian occupied Kashmir.
“This has been the consistent policy of the Erdogan administration to sensitize the world opinion to help bring parties concerned together to resolve the Kashmir dispute for the sake of peace and security not only in Kashmir but in the region of South Asia,” he said.
Turkish Foreign Minister @MevlutCavusoglu in his address at the 46th session of @UN_HRC today called upon India to ease restrictions in Jammu and #Kashmir. He reiterated Turkey's stance for resolution of the dispute as per the @UN resolutions and wishes of Kashmiri people. pic.twitter.com/EQluniyELx
— Pakistan Embassy Türkiye (@PakinTurkiye) February 22, 2021
“The people of Jammu & Kashmir were heartened to listen to Mr. Cavusoglu explaining before the world body the principle aspect of the Kashmir issue,” Dr. Fai said.
He added that the time has come for the world powers to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.
India using rape, torture of Kashmiri women
The Foreign Office on Tuesday said India was employing rape, torture, degrading treatment and killings of Kashmiri women as ‘instruments of state-terrorism’ in the occupied territory.
“These state-sanctioned heinous crimes have further intensified since India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5th August 2019,” the Foreign Office statement said issued here.
Read more: Forum for human rights in Jammu & Kashmir laments rise in HR violations in IIOJK
The statement came in remembrance of the horrific incident of mass rape of Kashmiri women in Kunan and Poshpora villages of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on 23 February 1991.
“The fateful day continues to remain a scar on collective memory of the international community,” the statement added.
The Foreign Office said lack of accountability of perpetrators and absence of justice for victims continued to define India’s deliberate disregard for rule of law and human rights.
The incidents of systematic violence and mass rapes in IIOJK have been documented by a number of independent Commissions, human rights organizations, global media, and civil society organizations, including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), it stressed.
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The Foreign Office emphasized that the day should serve as a solemn reminder to the international community of the need to address the systematic violence against women in IIOJK.
Courtesy: APP