Turkey on Saturday said it welcomes the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) decision to address the issue of occupied Kashmir in its session.

A statement by the Turkish foreign office stated, “We welcome the consultations held at the UN Security Council on Jammu and Kashmir (August 16) under the title "India-Pakistan", with a view to de-escalating tension in the region and upholding diplomacy. We believe that the UN should play a more active role in resolving the issue within the framework of the resolutions it adopted earlier.”

“We reaffirm our hope that the issue will be resolved on the basis of international law and through dialogue between the relevant parties and we call upon the parties to exercise restraint and to refrain from unilateral steps which may increase tension,” the statement added.

On Friday, the UNSC met for the first time in over five decades to discuss the critical situation in Indian occupied Kashmir, urging parties to the dispute to refrain from taking any unilateral action.