Ankara: Turkey is currently negotiating the UN-led conference on Afghanistan with all the concerned parties of the conflict, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday.
Turkey plans to host the conference in April.
Earlier this month, US State Secretary Antony Blinken wrote to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, saying that the US wishes to see a UN-facilitated conference with international stakeholders including Russia, Iran, China, India and Pakistan on the Afghan peace process in Turkey.
Speaking to reporters Cavusoglu said
“We discussed Afghanistan in detail. We want to hold not a conference that is not an alternative to but supplementary to the Doha negotiations. It has not yet been determined which countries will be invited, what the agenda will be. We are negotiating with the leadership of Afghanistan; there are contacts with the leadership of the Taliban. If possible, we want to hold the meeting before May 1, in April,”.
The discussions on Afghan reconciliation have been hosted by several platforms, including Doha, where peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban movement began in September 2020 but have so far failed to bear fruit.
Earlier this month, Russia hosted the so-called extended troika — Russia, China, the United States and Pakistan, as well as Afghan political forces and the Taliban.
In the joint statement after the talks, the four major foreign stakeholders urged the Afghan warring sides to reduce violence and immediately engage in discussions on fundamental issues to resolve the conflict.
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