ANKARA

A Turkish lawmaker on Monday suggested a “Muslim mechanism” for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India.

Addressing an event in the Turkish capital Ankara to mark “Kashmir Black Day”, ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party lawmaker Ali Sahin said that people in Turkey are well aware of what Kashmiris are going through.

“We here in Ankara feel their [Kashmiris] pain and suffering. What they feel in Srinagar, we feel [same] here [in Turkey],” Sahin said at the program hosted by Pakistan’s embassy, where messages of Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan were also read out.

Expressing displeasure that India was “not obeying” many United Nations decisions on Kashmir, Sahin said: “If we are unable to solve Kashmir problem through UN resolutions, or under international laws, then we, Muslims, have to create our own mechanisms to solve our own problems.”

“Muslim world should create Muslim mechanism to solve Muslim problems. This is the way forward,” he insisted.

On October 27, 1947 Indian forces landed in Srinagar, capital of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir -- the day which is observed as “Black Day” by Pakistan and Kashmiris across the globe.

“Kashmir is our honor; Kashmir is red line for Turkish people [and] Kashmir must be red line of all Muslim world as well,” the Turkish lawmaker said.

“But it is not enough to [only] feel pain or to give messages to each other, we have to create international awareness on what is going on in Kashmir,” Sahin said.

He said that there was a need to create awareness in universities, through non-governmental organizations in different parts of the world about Kashmir and Kashmiri people.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Saadet (Felicity) Party’s Foreign Affairs chief Mustafa Kaya said that 27 October is a “very bad day in our history because Jammu and Kashmir is under the control of India for 72 years”.

He said that Turkish people “are with Kashmiris”. “We [Saadet Party] are acting as ambassador of Kashmiri people in Turkey,” he added.

On Sunday evening, Turkey-based Anadolu Youth Association (AGD) held a demonstration and prayer meeting in Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mosque in Istanbul to mark the day.

“Kashmiris have and are resisting the forcible occupation for which we salute their steadfastness and stand beside them,” Dr Nedim Chaudhry, a representative of Turkey-based Pakistan-Kashmir solidarity group, said at the gathering.