Turkey hosts trilateral summit with Afghanistan and Pakistan

Istanbul - Turkey hosts a trilateral summit in Istanbul with the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan Monday, ahead of the bigger international conference later in the week in London. Hosted by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, the meeting is the fourth such summit. Afghani President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari are attending, along with government, military and intelligence officials from both countries.

"What we are trying to do is make sure the international community's efforts be translated to local activity and that the neighbors of Afghanistan are committed to its well being," Burak Ozugergin, the Turkish ministry of foreign affairs' spokesman, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Predominantly-Muslim Turkey, a NATO member, currently has some 1,700 troops in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operating in the country. They are mostly involved in training and reconstruction efforts.

Ankara has tried to take a lead in addressing non-security issues in Afghanistan, for example recently hosting a meeting between the Afghani and Pakistani education ministers.

"You need to get the bureaucracy doing, and we are doing that. We are a country well suited for doing that because we have a cultural affinity with Afghanistan," Ozugergin said.

"What we are trying to do is address softer issues, if I may call it that, just as much as security issues. Security by itself is not enough."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305590,turkey-hosts-trilateral-summit-with-afghanistan-and-pakistan.html.