Erdogan urges India, Pakistan to settle Kashmir once and for all

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for Pakistan and India settling the dispute of Kashmir once and for all through talks, Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.

In an interview ahead of his visit to India, he stressed the need for a negotiated settlement of the long-standing Kashmir issue.

Erdogan said there was no similarity between the Kurdish insurgents and the Kashmiri freedom fighters.

Commenting on the issue of membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Turkish president said he had always supported both India and Pakistan’s entry into the group.

Erdogan’s statement comes in the wake of a violent month in Indian-occupied Kashmir during which many Kashmiri youths have been killed by Indian troops.

At least six civilians were killed in the valley on April 9 when police opened fire at protesters who stormed polling stations during a by-election for a parliamentary seat.

State and paramilitary police fired bullets and shotgun pellets as thousands of protesters shouting slogans against Indian rule charged into voting booths in Budgam district near Srinagar.

Authorities in the valley this week ordered internet service providers to block 15 social media services for at least one month, saying they were being misused by “anti-national and anti-social elements”.