Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revived the Kashmir issue at the 81st UN General Assembly, calling for dialogue under the UN Charter and relevant resolutions. His remarks again highlight the gap between Türkiye’s position and India’s stated view that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter.
India Kashmir position
Addressing the General Assembly in New York on September 22, Erdogan said disputes in South Asia, including Kashmir, should be handled through dialogue within the framework of the UN Charter and relevant resolutions. Türkiye’s Communications Directorate published the remarks in its official account of his speech.
India has consistently taken a different position. In a June 2026 UN statement, India’s Permanent Representative Harish Parvathaneni said Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and will always remain” an integral and inalienable part of India and described it as an internal matter. India has also said outstanding issues with Pakistan should be addressed bilaterally and peacefully.
Turkey Pakistan ties
Erdogan has raised Kashmir before. During a February 2025 visit to Pakistan, he backed dialogue based on UN resolutions while referring to the aspirations of Kashmiris. He also raised Kashmir at the UN General Assembly in 2019 after India changed Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional status under Article 370.
The repeated references show a continuing policy difference: Ankara frames Kashmir through dialogue and international frameworks, while New Delhi rejects third-party involvement and emphasizes bilateral mechanisms.
Mecca defence pact
Erdogan also referred to Türkiye’s defence alliance with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as an example of “regional ownership.” The three countries signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on August 7, 2026, pledging that an armed attack on one would be treated as an attack on all three.
The pact has drawn attention amid renewed Saudi-Houthi tensions. Erdogan argued that regional problems should be managed through cooperation and diplomacy rather than allowing conflicts to spread.
Black Sea attacks and Gaza rebuilding
Erdogan also addressed maritime security and Gaza. He said attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea were unacceptable regardless of who carried them out and called for safer navigation. He also urged Gaza’s reconstruction to begin without delay and called for stronger international pressure on Israel.
The speech went well beyond Kashmir, combining South Asian disputes with Türkiye’s wider themes of regional security, maritime stability and diplomacy.
