Day: July 21, 2021

The Kashmiri people already decided their political destiny with Pakistan in a resolution adopted even before the partition of the subcontinent, said Masood Khan, president of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, also known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Speaking at a webinar earlier this week organized by the think tank the Islamabad Institute of Conflict Resolution (IICR) titled “Kashmir: A Saga of Suffering,” Khan said the resolution of accession to Pakistan adopted on July 19, 1947 was a referendum that reflected a long unfulfilled dream of Kashmiris.

“The day of July 19 is an important day in the history of Kashmir, as on this day in 1947, the accession to Pakistan resolution was adopted under the leadership of Ghazi-e-Millat Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan by representatives of the Kashmiri people from the entire state, and [the people] decided to attach their destiny with Pakistan,” he said.

He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir through this resolution had set their political and ideological direction by expressing their will in unambiguous and unequivocal terms.

Highlighting the suffering of the Kashmiri people, he noted that the “dark night” of suffering of Kashmiris which started in October 1947 after the Indian Army entered Jammu and Kashmir and occupied a large part of the state has not ended until today.

India’s “occupation army,” he went on to say, has been killing Kashmiris, making women suffer tremendously and arresting innocent and peaceful civilians and torturing them in jails simply because they were peacefully demanding their freedom, liberty and right to self-determination.

“Despite the worst repression, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, the Kashmiri freedom movement was continuing and now India has adopted a new tactic to settle its Hindu citizens in Kashmir to turn the majority of Kashmiris into a minority,” Khan added.

The event was also addressed by Syed Nasir Qadri, an expert on international law, Noorin Farooq Ibrahim, a member of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir, IICR Executive Director Saba Aslam and Waleed Rasool, director of the Institute of Multi-Track Dialogue Development and Diplomatic Studies.

On Monday, Kashmiris across Pakistan and the Islamabad-administered part of the Jammu and Kashmir region observed the 74th Accession to Pakistan Day.

The day is observed to mark a resolution passed by several Kashmiri groups linking the destiny of the Muslim majority valley with Pakistan on July 19, 1947, only weeks before the end of British colonial rule in united India, which resulted in the creation of two independent states — India and Pakistan.

The valley’s Hindu ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, however, handed over control to India in line with a counter accession agreement he signed in October 1947, triggering decades of acrimony between the two rivals.

The Islamabad-administered part of Kashmir, also known as Azad (liberated) Kashmir, was captured by a Pakistani tribal militia following the accession resolution signed by the Kashmiri groups.

Since then, the picturesque valley has been a key bone of contention between the two nuclear rivals, which have fought three full-scale wars — two of them on Kashmir in 1948 and 1965 — in addition to the Kargil skirmish in 1999.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey has exported its autonomous rotary-wing attack drones – also known as kamikaze drones – produced by Turkish defense company STM for the first time, the firm announced on Sunday.

After high-level negotiations, the first contract for exports of STM’s Kargu drones was signed, the firm said in a statement.

“Under the contract, the delivery of Kargus will be completed in 2021,” it said.

The destination country for the drone exports was not named.

Ismail Demir, the head of Turkey’s Defense Industries Presidency, said on Twitter that with its advanced capabilities, the Turkish defense industry continues to open up to the world.

With its advanced machine vision abilities, Kargu can function both as a single platform and as part of a swarm of up to 20 platforms, as proved in exercises that began to be conducted in 2019.

The Kargu is already used effectively by the Turkish Armed Forces in the field.

*Writing by Yunus Girgin

Source: Anadolu Agency

Justin Kluivert joined OGC Nice on loan Tuesday for one year with an option to buy, according to the club’s website.

Kluivert, 22, originally was contracted to Roma but was loaned to Red Bull Leipzig last season and had four goals and 1 assist in 27 games.

The son of legendary Dutch forward Patrick Kluivert had five goals in 20 caps with the national team.

OGC Nice finished the 2020-2021 season in Ligue 1 at ninth place with 52 points.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Ankara will continue its efforts to secure international recognition for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Turkey’s president said on Wednesday.

“We will make every possible effort to ensure recognition of the Turkish Cypriot state as soon as possible,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a video address to members of the Justice and Development (AK) Party on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

He stressed that the only demand of Turkish Cypriots in international talks on the Cyprus issue is for “their sovereign state status to be recognized,” a recognition currently only given by Turkey.

“All other offers and proposals are not valid anymore,” Erdogan added.

The Turkish president returned from a two-day visit to the TRNC on Tuesday, where he reiterated Ankara’s support for a two-state solution to the Cyprus issue and the need for both sides of the island to be recognized as equals.

“No one should expect the Turkish Cypriots to give up their equal status and sovereignty, and to accept to live as a minority as per the will of the Greek Cypriots,” Erdogan said at an event on the island, adding that the Turkish Cypriots would not compromise on their independence and freedom.

“First of all, the sovereign equality and equal status of the Turkish Cypriots should be confirmed. This is the key to the solution,” he said.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece’s annexation led to Turkey’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. The TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted the UN’s Annan plan to end the decades-long dispute.

Source: Anadolu Agency

This year Novak Djokovic wants to score a “Golden Slam” by bagging all four Grand Slams as well as the Tokyo Olympics gold medal.

Djokovic, 34, told the Serbian press about his ambition, which in addition to Tokyo would require a triumph at the US Open, set to start on Aug. 30.

If he manages it, the Serbian superstar would be the first man ever to capture the Golden Slam.

Djokovic, who won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has better odds this year of grabbing the gold, as top players such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Dominic Thiem will not take play in the 2020 games, set to start Friday after a one-year delay.

In 30 Grand Slam finals, Djokovic has won 20, including nine Australian Opens, two French Opens, six Wimbledons, and three US Open titles.

If Djokovic wins the US Open tournament, he could make history as the player with the most Grand Slam titles.

He would also be the first men’s tennis player since Australia’s Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four Grand Slams in the same year.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Any new Cyprus talks that fail to guarantee the vested rights of the island’s Turkish Cypriots are doomed to fail, the Turkish president said on Wednesday.

“The time has come for the negotiations to be conducted between two states, not between two communities,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters en route from a visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

“For this reason, we’re determined not to bring third parties between us, and we cannot accept such a thing.”

Erdogan stressed that the Turkish side opened a new page on the Cyprus issue without changing their constructive understanding.

Instead of sticking to parameters that have proved not to provide a solution on the island – seeking a federation of communities – Erdogan said the Turkish side put forth a fair, sustainable, and realistic solution.

When asked if the Greek Cypriots could join NATO, Erdogan said it cannot join the military alliance unless Turkey gives a “positive answer.”

Turkey has been a member of NATO for nearly 70 years.

‘Ghost town’ opening

Underlining that the reopening of the former “ghost town” of Maras is a peace project, Erdogan said all steps were taken transparently and in line with international law.

“It is futile for this initiative, which will benefit both peoples on the island, to be used as a tool for dark propaganda,” he said, reiterating that Turkey will continue to support Turkish Cypriot officials on the project.

Maras was partially reopened on Oct. 8, 2020, after decades as a “ghost town” in the wake of Turkey’s 1974 peace operation on the island in response to a coup aimed at its annexation by Greece.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

In the early 1960s, ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece’s annexation led to Turkey’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded in 1983.

The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted the UN’s Annan plan to end the decades-long dispute.

Seeking a fairer approach to the Cyprus issue, Turkey and Turkish Cyprus have proposed establishing a cooperative relationship between the two states on the island, with both enjoying equal international status.

Afghan refugee influx

On an influx of Afghan refugees from the Iranian and Pakistani borders amid the pullout of US forces, Erdogan said Turkey has taken necessary measures, especially at the security level.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has discussed these issues with senior Afghan officials, he said.

Forces of the US and its NATO allies are set to withdraw from the war-torn country by around late August.

Intense fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban continues amid the withdrawal.

Ankara has been running the military and logistic operations at the airport in the capital Kabul for six years as part of the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission.

Turkey, whose forces in Afghanistan have always been noncombatants, has reportedly offered to guard the airport amid questions about how security will be assured along major transport routes and at the airport, which is the main gateway to Kabul.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar and Zehra Nur Düz

Source: Anadolu Agency