Turkey’s Erdogan discusses Afghan peace with PM Imran Khan amid US withdrawal

• PM Imran Khan discuss bilateral ties besides the Afghan peace with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
• They deliberate upon mutual interest including further strengthening of bilateral relations in all areas.
  
• The two leaders also exchange felicitations on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan.
  

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday received a telephone call from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wherein they discussed bilateral ties besides the Afghan peace process in wake of the recently announced planned US withdrawal.

The two leaders exchanged felicitations on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan.

They discussed issues of mutual interest including further strengthening of bilateral relations in all areas.

In the regional context, the prime minister stressed the importance of a negotiated political settlement of the conflict in Afghanistan ahead of the recently announced planned US withdrawal.

He highlighted that Pakistan had fully supported and facilitated the US-Taliban Peace Agreement and the subsequent initiation of Intra-Afghan Negotiations.

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The prime minister stressed that the intra-Afghan negotiations provided a historic opportunity that must be seized by the Afghan leadership to achieve an inclusive, broad-based, and comprehensive political settlement.

Appreciating Turkey’s role, PM Imran Khan reiterated that Pakistan would continue to extend all possible support to the efforts for a political solution for durable peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Both the leaders agreed to keep up the momentum of high-level exchanges to transform bilateral relations into strategic economic partnerships.

Turkey is hosting a conference on Afghanistan in Istanbul later this month to bring all the stakeholders to the negotiation table.