Ankara hosts rival South Asian leaders
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 02, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Turkey hosted the third round of trust-building talks between the Afghanistan and Pakistan presidents yesterday in a trilateral meeting with President Abdullah Gül.
"We believe that we must watch out for our region ourselves first. Countries in the region know their own problems. They must prepare themselves in the best possible manner for other countries to help them," Gül said. Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari met with Gül to discuss regional security, as well as economic relations between the three countries.
Foreign ministers, military chiefs and intelligence chiefs from the three countries attended the summit. "Their participation is what renders this meeting a very important one," Gül said. Bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan and future projects on which they can work jointly were also on the meeting’s agenda.
"Both NATO and the U.S. are conducting important activities in the region. We learned my president brothers’ opinions on the problems of their countries. I will have the opportunity to convey these to the U.S. president and at the NATO summit," said Gül.
Karzai said he was happy to see relations developing between the United States and Iran. The Afghan president also said Afghanistan would accept any candidate for NATO's new secretary general that NATO itself and Turkey agree on. The Afghan leader said Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's candidacy to become NATO's next secretary general is NATO's own matter.
The meeting came right before the NATO summit on April 3 and 4 in Baden-Baden and Kehl, Germany, and in Strasbourg, France, where member countries’ leaders will celebrate the 60th year of the alliance.
The insecurity in Afghanistan and its bordering Federally Administrated Tribal Areas, or FATA, region of Pakistan where Taliban factions are nested will be the main problems NATO leaders will try to address. Two troubled neighbors came together for the first time in Ankara and Istanbul in April 2007 and December 2008 respectively.
Rejecting Kabul’s claims
Turkey hopes it can help foster better cooperation, especially in security and intelligence efforts between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Taliban militants, which operate across the Afghan-Pakistani border to disrupt NATO reconstruction efforts, had been a major source of tension between two countries. Afghanistan accuses its neighbor of not fulfilling its responsibilities to stop the insurgents passing along the border, while Pakistan rejects Kabul’s claims.
Karzai did not elaborate on a question about a recent Afghan law that limits women’s rights severely and frustrated the United States and human rights organizations around the world, according to reports. "I do not know what to say to that question," Karzai said.
Foreign ministers, military chiefs and intelligence chiefs from the three countries attended the summit. "Their participation is what renders this meeting a very important one," Gül said. Bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan and future projects on which they can work jointly were also on the meeting’s agenda.
"Both NATO and the U.S. are conducting important activities in the region. We learned my president brothers’ opinions on the problems of their countries. I will have the opportunity to convey these to the U.S. president and at the NATO summit," said Gül.
Karzai said he was happy to see relations developing between the United States and Iran. The Afghan president also said Afghanistan would accept any candidate for NATO's new secretary general that NATO itself and Turkey agree on. The Afghan leader said Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's candidacy to become NATO's next secretary general is NATO's own matter.
The meeting came right before the NATO summit on April 3 and 4 in Baden-Baden and Kehl, Germany, and in Strasbourg, France, where member countries’ leaders will celebrate the 60th year of the alliance.
The insecurity in Afghanistan and its bordering Federally Administrated Tribal Areas, or FATA, region of Pakistan where Taliban factions are nested will be the main problems NATO leaders will try to address. Two troubled neighbors came together for the first time in Ankara and Istanbul in April 2007 and December 2008 respectively.
Rejecting Kabul’s claims
Turkey hopes it can help foster better cooperation, especially in security and intelligence efforts between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Taliban militants, which operate across the Afghan-Pakistani border to disrupt NATO reconstruction efforts, had been a major source of tension between two countries. Afghanistan accuses its neighbor of not fulfilling its responsibilities to stop the insurgents passing along the border, while Pakistan rejects Kabul’s claims.
Karzai did not elaborate on a question about a recent Afghan law that limits women’s rights severely and frustrated the United States and human rights organizations around the world, according to reports. "I do not know what to say to that question," Karzai said.