Kashmir Exploitation Day was celebrated with full national spirit and dignity under the auspices of the Embassy of Pakistan in Ankara, the capital of Turkey.

On this occasion, Pakistan’s unwavering solidarity with the freedom struggle of the Kashmiri people was reiterated on August 5, 2019, when India revoked the special constitutional status of the illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and completed seven years of unilateral measures.

Prominent political, diplomatic and academic figures of Turkey, members of parliament, experts from various think tanks, diplomatic community, media representatives and members of Pakistani and Turkish communities participated in the ceremony.

The ceremony began with the recitation of the Holy Quran, after which the special messages of the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and the Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif were read to the audience, in which they reiterated their support for the just struggle of the Kashmiri people and urged the international community to play its effective role in ensuring the implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

Chairman of Geopolitical Foresight Institute Major General (Rtd) Goroy Alpar in his address highlighted the geographical and strategic importance of Jammu and Kashmir and said that the people of Pakistan and Turkey are bound in historical, cultural and fraternal ties.

He warned that India’s unilateral actions, arbitrary changes in constitutional structures and attempts to use shared water resources as a tool of political pressure could pose a serious threat to the peace and stability of the entire region.

The Director General of SESRIC, a subsidiary of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (SESRIC) and the former Minister of Turkey, Zehra Zumard Seljuk, in her address reiterated the permanent and principled position of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the Jammu and Kashmir issue, saying that a fair and sustainable solution to this conflict is only possible if the Kashmiri people are given the opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

He pointed out the similarities between occupied Kashmir and the ongoing occupation of Palestine and called upon the international community to fulfill its responsibilities for a just and lasting solution.

Mustafa Kaya, member of Turkish Parliament and vice-chairman of Saadat Party, criticized India’s policies in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, terming them as “demographic terrorism”.

He said that efforts to change the proportion of the population of Kashmiris, to deprive the local inhabitants of their land rights and to implement the model of occupation adopted in the West Bank in Kashmir can never suppress the right of freedom of the Kashmiri people.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Turkey Dr. Yusuf Junaid expressed his sincere gratitude for the continuous and unwavering support of the government and the people of Turkey and said that India is following the policy of systematically changing the population ratio in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, under which nearly four million controversial domicile certificates have been issued to non-residents, while strict restrictions on free media and state repression against the Kashmiri people continue.

He clarified that India’s unilateral constitutional and illegal actions cannot change the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Ambassador of Pakistan emphasized that the way to sustainable peace, security and stability in South Asia is through the just solution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue and for this purpose it is imperative that the Kashmiri people be given the right to decide their political future through a free, transparent and impartial referendum under the supervision of the United Nations.

At the end of the event, the participants expressed their commitment that moral, political and diplomatic support to the struggle for self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir will continue until they get an opportunity to decide their future in accordance with the UN resolutions.