Turkey to host 8th trilateral summit with Pakistan, Afghanistan

KABUL: (MEP)  -The 8th Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Summit, which aims to further develop high-level political dialogue, security cooperation and partnership among the three brotherly countries, will kick off in Ankara on Feb. 12-13.

The summit, to be hosted by President Abdullah Gül, will be based on the theme “A sustainable peace in the heart of Asia.”

On the sidelines of the summit, Gül will be meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, while foreign ministers, military officials and business leaders from the three countries will meet in separate sessions.

A statement released by the President’s Office on Monday read, “The summit aims to carry the existing multi-dimensional collaboration between the three countries, which takes its strength from their historic and deep-rooted amity, to the future in a stronger way.”

The meetings between the three countries, which started in 2007 and have since evolved into a vibrant trilateral platform based on a shared, will between the countries, focuses on issues such as security, economic cooperation, education, inter-parliamentary cooperation, dialogue and mutual trust.

This year’s summit is taking place against a backdrop of important political and security transitions in Afghanistan, including the presidential and provincial council elections on April 5, 2014, and the withdrawal of NATO forces by 2014.

According to a statement released by the Pakistani Embassy in Ankara, Sharif will also be meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Afghan and Pakistani leaders are scheduled to attend a bilateral meeting as well, and the Afghan president will also be meeting with Erdoğan on the sidelines of the summit.