Turks reiterate unwavering support for oppressed people of occupied Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: The Youth Assembly of Konya’s Selçuklu Municipility and the Embassy of Pakistan jointly organized ‘Kashmir Black Day Seminar’ and expressed strong solidarity with the oppressed people of the Indian Occupied Kashmir.

They also reaffirmed unflinching support for Kashmiris’ democratic right to self-determination, says a press release received here today from Ankara.

Chairman of Turkey-Pakistan Friendship Group in Turkish Parliament Ali Sahin, Deputy Governor of Konya Mehmet Aydin, Deputy Mayor of Selçuklu Municipility of Konya Ali Ziya Yalçınkaya, office bearers of the Youth Assembly of Selçuklu Konya and a large number of students and media representatives attended the event.

Parliamentarian Ali Sahin in his keynote speech once more reiterated Turkish support for the Kashmiri people. He noted that Turkey would continue to be in strong solidarity with the oppressed people in any geography including the people of Indian Occupied Kashmir and Palestine.

He said Turkish support would continue not only on the Black Day but also until final resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.

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President of ‘Kashmir Working Group’ of the Youth Assembly of Selçuklu Konya shared his group’s research about Kashmir dispute with the audience. He condemned Indian brutalities in the Indian Occupied Kashmir and said his group would continue to work to raise awareness about Kashmir issue in Turkey.

He also re-assured to continue Turkish support to the people of Kashmir till the final resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

Appreciating Turkey’s steadfast support, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Turkey Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi said the presence of such a large number of participants in the observance of ‘Black Day’ today is a further manifestation of Turkey’s abiding commitment to this noble cause.

Kashmiris in the Occupied Jammu & Kashmir as well as across the globe observe the Black Day on October 27 every year to mark that infamous day in 1947, when India forcibly and illegally occupied the State of Jammu & Kashmir. He updated the audience about the gross violations of human rights. He said over 95,000 innocent Kashmiris have been martyred since 1989.

He said the martyrdom of young Kashmiri leader Burhan Wani on 8 July 2016 infused a new spirit to the indigenous Kashmiri freedom movement adding that no amount of brute force has been able to break the will of the Kashmiri people.

The ambassador noted that generations of Kashmiris are being punished for demanding their inalienable right to self-determination, a right repeatedly pledged to them in the shape of Security Council resolutions. The global community has failed to implement these resolutions.

He added that India has exploited this collective failure by resorting to state terrorism to suppress the legitimate aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

Ambassador Qazi noted that welcome development is a report released by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which chronicles the massive human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan endorses the UN Report and calls for early institution of a Commission of Inquiry under UN auspices to investigate and fix responsibility, he added.

Ambassador Syrus Qazi reiterated that Pakistan would continue to extend maximum political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of Kashmir. He hoped that our combined efforts would help shake the world conscience and pave the way for the dawn of peace, hope and freedom for the struggling people of Occupied Jammu & Kashmir.