ANKARA, May 18 (DNA): Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi who is in Turkey has said that contacts are being established with different countries to get stopped the Israeli persecution of Palestinians.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Foreign Minister said the Muslims residing in European countries must also play their role in this regard.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the bombardment in Palestine has resulted in power outage and affected the supplies of essential commodities. He said it will be lamentable if the international community remained silent on the Palestinian situation.

The Foreign Minister said Israel is further complicating the matter and its bombardment is making it impossible for the Palestinians to access the healthcare facilities.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said hurdles are being created so that the Palestinian Foreign Minister could not attend the UN General Assembly session. He said we will wait for the Palestinian Foreign Minister and want him to accompany us for the session.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Qureshi on Tuesday reached Ankara on an extensive diplomatic mission to attract the world attention towards the deplorable situation in Palestine where Israeli airstrikes hammered the Gaza Strip killing more than 200 people.

The foreign minister was received by Deputy Governor Ankara Ismail Catklii and Pakistan’s ambassador Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi at Ankara Airport.

FM Qureshi will leave for New York along with the foreign ministers of Sudan, Palestine and Turkey.  He will hold meetings with important personalities in New York.

In New York, he will speak at the United Nations General Assembly session, meet various dignitaries and hold talks with local and international media representatives and present Pakistan’s views on the situation in Palestine.

Meanwhile, talking to different Pakistani television channel on phone, the foreign minister said, that the attempts were being made to keep the Palestinian FM from the UNGA session. He said as the session was convened to discuss the plight of the Palestinian people, so the debate should be opened by Palestinian foreign minister.

Qureshi said their delegation would await the Palestinian FM to join them in Istanbul. He said around 65 million Muslims living in Western countries would have to play a role to seek support for the suffering Palestinian people. He said the next 48 hours would be critical and any wrong step would not be in the interest of the Palestinian people.

The foreign minister also called for media to play an active role to awaken the world to the Israeli aggression against the defenceless people in Palestine.

To a question, he said the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was also playing its part and many other countries too had activated considering the seriousness of the situation. He said the UN General Assembly session was convened after the UN Security Council could not evolve consensus. He said being the most important body, the UNSC was responsible for peace and security in the region as well as the world.

Foreign Minister Qureshi said Prime Minister Imran Khan had a very clear viewpoint on the issue who, he said, called him and said “go all out” for it being an issue of the faith as the Israeli forces attacked Qibla-e-Awal which was symbol of oneness.

To a question, the foreign minister said the situation was evolving and in diplomacy, disappointment was never allowed to dominate rather the challenge was taken as an opportunity. DNA

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