TURKEY: SOUTH ASIAN LEADERS MEET AT ECONOMIC FORUM IN ISTANBUL
Adnkronos International Italia (AKI)
Oct 30 2008
Italy
Istanbul, 30 Oct. (AKI) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
met his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts in Istanbul on Thursday in a
bid to help bridge differences and bring peace to the volatile region.
Erdogan was joined by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Prime
Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani during a ‘Europe and Central Asia’ meeting
organised by the World Economic Forum, reported Turkish daily Hurriyet.
The three leaders reiterated their commitment to peace, security,
stability and economic development efforts in the region.
The meeting took place after five people were killed and many others
wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the Information
Ministry in the centre of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have been at odds ever since Pakistan
abandoned support for the Taliban following the 9/11 attacks on the
United States in 2001.
Western and Afghan officials have accused Pakistan of failing to
do enough to stop extremists. Pakistan on the other hand, says the
problem originates in Afghanistan.
Afghan and Pakistani representatives met tribal leaders for a two-day
jirga or tribal meeting in Islamabad earlier this week. The meeting
agreed to recognise the Taliban’s right to resist foreign forces and
endorsed moves for talks with militant leaders.
Turkey has recently played the role of mediator, especially in the
Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations, the Iranian nuclear dispute,
as well as discussing the issue of the Armenian genocide.