The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan will hold talks in Ankara in early April in a third Turkish-sponsored meeting to bring the troubled neighbours closer, a Turkish diplomat said Tuesday. The talks between Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan will specifically focus on security issues and efforts to fight Islamist extremists in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
The meeting, to be hosted by Turkish President Abdullah Gul at the presidential palace, will be attended by army chiefs and senior intelligence officials from the three countries, he added. A firm date is yet to be set for the talks, he said, but the NTV news channel reported that the summit would take place on April 1.
The first fence-mending talks sponsored by Turkey took place in Ankara in April 2007, followed by second in Istanbul in December last year. Both meetings ended with pledges to step up co-operation against extremists. Pakistans north-western tribal regions became a stronghold for hundreds of extremists who fled Afghanistan after the US-led invasion toppled the hard-line Taliban regime in late 2001.
Afghanistan says much of its insurgent violence, including attacks on US and Nato soldiers, is planned in Pakistan, and, along with the United States, has accused its neighbour of not doing enough to stop militants crossing the border for attacks.
Pakistan rejects those accusations and says more than 1,500 Pakistani troops have been killed at the hands of Islamist extremists since 2002. Drawing on its traditionally close ties with both Afghanistan and Pakistan, Turkey, the sole mainly Muslim member of Nato, hopes it can encourage the two neighbours to resolve their disputes peacefully.