News
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Pakistan, Turkey vow support for Afghan dialogue
* Zardari, Gul pledge to work hand in hand to exploit potential in industrial, energy, communication and infrastructure sectors of their countries
ANKARA: Turkey and Pakistan Wednesday voiced support for initiatives to stabilise conflict-torn Afghanistan, including efforts for dialogue with the Taliban.
Presidents Abdullah Gul of Turkey and Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan made the pledges in response to a question on whether Ankara had agreed to host a representation office for the Taliban and whether Islamabad would be ready to help any dialogue process.
“2011 is a very critical year for Afghanistan... as the foreign troops will begin to withdraw... We are using all our capabilities to secure Afghanistan’s unity and integrity,” Gul told a joint press conference.
“We are doing this in cooperation with Afghan President (Hamid) Karzai and all Afghan authorities... We will be part of any activity (aimed at) making further contributions to secure durable peace,” he said.
Zardari, on an official visit to Turkey, said Pakistan “believes in a peaceful transition and dialogue” in Afghanistan, its western neighbour with whom relations have often been strained over insecurity plaguing their border.
“We’ll be facilitators to any format that leads to peace... Whatever needs to be done, Pakistan will be playing a positive role and hoping to facilitate the transition and dialogue,” he said.
In December, Karzai spoke of suggestions that the Taliban open a representation office in Turkey or another impartial country ‘to facilitate reconciliation’ in Afghanistan, saying he would be happy if Turkey could provide such a venue.
Turkey, NATO’s sole Muslim-majority member, has also organised talks between leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2007 to push them to cooperate against insurgents.
Afghanistan has been in the grip of a deadly insurgency waged by remnants of the Taliban since their regime was toppled in a US-led invasion in 2001, with the militants holding rear bases in Pakistan.
There are around 1,40,000 international troops in Afghanistan, including a Turkish contingent. They are due to start limited withdrawals from July with the Afghan police and army scheduled to take full control of security by 2014.
President Zardari termed the decision by the Supreme Court (SC) to accept a reference filed by him to revisit the judicial murder of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) as ‘landmark’ and reflective of ‘political and democratic growth.’
“The government wanted to rectify a historical fault,” he said, adding, “We do not want revenge in history ... we just want that a historical wrong is corrected. If in future someone commits a similar wrong, then he will know that the history will never forgive him.”
To a question the president said Pakistan’s views on Afghanistan were clear and it believed success of Afghan-led reconciliation process was vital for the regional peace and
stability.
He said Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey were coordinating at the political, military and intelligence levels to find a solution that was acceptable to the people of Afghanistan.
“War is defeat of the civilised mindset,” he said, adding that Pakistan would support the Afghan government and people in maintaining peace and stability.
To a question, President Gul said recently the armed forces of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey conducted joint military exercises.
“Turkey many times had the ISAF command in Afghanistan, it contributed 2, 000 troops for the country and then made significant contributions in improving health and educational facilities in Afghanistan,” he said.
“But military aid is not enough. We have to win hearts in Afghanistan,” he said, adding, “2011 is a critical year as foreign forces will be retreating from Afghanistan, whose army and police will take control of security. Our ultimate goal is to ensure peace and security in Afghanistan through our collective efforts.” agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk