Turkey hosts trilateral meeting with Afghanistan, Pakistan

ANKARA, Turkey – President Abdullah Gul hosted the third trilateral meeting among counterparts from Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday (April 1st). Gul, Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai and Pakistan’s Asif Ali Zardari discussed ways to strengthen relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, joint economic projects, and the fight against terrorism in the context of regional security.

Turkey initiated the closed-door meeting in an effort to ease strained relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Later, at a joint press conference, Gul stressed that for the first time, these consultations involved foreign ministers, the heads of general staffs and the heads of the national security services of the three countries. They agreed to meet annually.