Srinagar: Emphasizing on having dialogue between India and Pakistan, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, says India and Pakistan must strive to resolve the outstanding issue of Jammu and Kashmir through dialogue. “There is no better option for India and Pakistan than to keep channels of dialogue open,” he said in an interview to daily DNA.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
He hinted at a role for Turkey to nudge India and Pakistan towards a multilateral dialogue.
We should not allow more casualties to occur and by strengthening multilateral dialogue, we can be involved, and through multilateral dialogue I think we have to seek out ways to settle this question once and for all, which will benefit both countries
When asked about the stand of Turkey on the issue of Jammu & Kashmir, 63-year-old Erdogan said “India-Pakistan relations are improving, which makes me happy, buy it saddens me that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir has not been settled for 70 years. India and Pakistan are our friends. Faith has contributed to our ancient relations; we have followers of Islam in Pakistan. We are for strengthening dialogue between stakeholders. We should not allow more casualties to occur and by strengthening multilateral dialogue, we can be involved, and through multilateral dialogue I think we have to seek out ways to settle this question once and for all, which will benefit both countries.”
In Jammu and Kashmir, situation is different. Let’s not make the mistake of comparing them.
On issue of comparing dispute of Kashmir with demands of the Kurdish people, Erdogan said “you are comparing apples and oranges. We’re making a big mistake. There is no similarity with Jammu and Kashmir issue. The nature of the dispute is different. It is a territorial dispute. In Jammu and Kashmir, situation is different. Let’s not make the mistake of comparing them.”
