Turkey "apologises" for raising Kashmir issue in UN

ISTANBUL: Turkey today expressed apologies for raking up the Kashmir issue in the UN General Assembly after India conveyed its "unhappiness" over the matter.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna met his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on the sidelines of Istanbul conference during which Krishna conveyed the country's "surprise and unhappiness."

"India conveys its surprise and unhappiness on the UN General Assembly speech of the Prime Minister of Turkey wherein Kashmir was refereed to. India conveys that Kashmir is part and parcel of India and has a democratically-elected state government," official sources told PTI.

Clarifying his country's position, Davutoglu said the purpose was not to internationalise the issue of Kashmir, according to officials.

"...apologize if it has hurt the sentiments of Indians," the Turkish Minister said.

Officials said the minister explained that Turkish Prime Minister just commented that India is having a dialogue with Pakistan and meant that the Kashmir issue was between India and Pakistan.

Davutoglu also asserted that his country wanted close ties with India.

During his speech in UNGA on September 22 this year, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said "the illegitimate invasion of Azerbaijani territories, which has been going on for many years now, must end. It is unacceptable to let the Nagorno-Karabakh issue remain unresolved as such. Finding solutions to international problems before they become acute is a political and moral responsibility for all of us.

"In this respect, more effective efforts have to be exerted to resolve the Kashmir issue and many other frozen disputes which I can't name here."