UPDATE - Erdogan, Guterres discuss India-Pakistan tension

ADDS BACKGROUND

By Ferdi Turkten

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish president and UN secretary general spoke over the phone on Friday to discuss recent developments at India-Pakistan border, said the Directorate of Communications of Turkish Presidency.

Tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals escalated after a suicide attack last month on an army convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed at least 40 Indian troops. India accused Pakistan of being involved in the attack, a charge Islamabad denies.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Antonio Guterres also discussed the latest situation in Syria, said the statement from the presidency.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev