Turkey wants peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute

Caption : Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi greets his counterpart, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Islamabad, Friday 14 September. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs photo)

• Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is on a two-day official visit to Islamabad
• The Turkish news agency said the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Pakistan stood at $650 million by the end of 2017 and Ankara intended to increase this to $1 billion

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday that Turkey was willing to support Islamabad’s quest for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
He added that the latest United Nations report had endorsed Pakistan’s perspective on the protracted problem that had driven the two South Asian nuclear nations apart, noting that the UN had meticulously documented Indian brutalities in the occupied region.
Addressing a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, Qureshi said that Turkey had also agreed to attend a conference on Kashmir on the sides of the UN session and shared Pakistan’s vision for a peaceful resolution of the dispute.
Bearing a message from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish foreign minister had arrived in Pakistan on Thursday for a two-day official visit. At the top of his agenda were discussions on the bilateral ties of the two countries, enhanced cooperation and views on regional and international developments.
The Turkish News Agency Anadolu said the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Pakistan stood at $650 million by the end of 2017 and Ankara intended to increase this to $1 billion.
On August 10, US President Donald Trump had slapped steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey in an attempt to force it to release US pastor Andrew Brunson.
Pakistan has expressed solidarity with Turkey and its government over the economic crisis and the unilateral sanctions imposed by the US government.
“The solution to any and all issues should lie in dialogue, mutual understanding and goodwill. Any steps or actions to the contrary only undermine peace and stability and make the solution to a problem more difficult and intractable,” said a statement issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Aug. 13.
On Friday, the foreign ministers of the two countries recognized each other’s support and noted that the relations between Turkey and Pakistan were between not only the two governments but also their people.