Turkish President Erdogan, PM Imran Khan discuss Afghan peace process

ISLAMABAD: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan telephoned Prime Minister Imran Khan and discuss matters related to the Afghan peace process, ARY News reported on Friday.

Bilateral relations, Kashmir issue and other regional issues also discussed in President Erdogan’s phone call with Prime Minister Imran Khan.

PM Imran Khan also invited Erdogan to visit Pakistan and participate in the council session of the Pak-Turk strategic cooperation scheduled in Islamabad this year.

Turkish President also expressed condolences to Prime Minister Imran Khan over recent terrorist attacks in the country.

Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the Pakistani nation had rendered 70,000 sacrifices in war against terrorism as a high price of Afghan war but it failed to build firm confidence between Islamabad and Washington.

PM Khan, while addressing to the US Institute of Peace in Washington, reiterated, “I have always adopted the stance that Afghan issue could be resolved through dialogues. I’ve also asked everyone in the United States that there is no military solution to the issue.”

“US nationals were not aware of the history of Afghanistan,” he added.

The premier said, “At this moment, Pakistan and US ties are on its best level and both countries have a similar stance on the Afghan issue. It happens for the first time that the Pakistani government, US administration and security institutions are on the same page. We could have found a solution with consensus although it is not an easy task.”

Earlier, China, Russia and the United States jointly welcomed Pakistan to a four-party consultation process and believed that Islamabad can play an important role in facilitating peace in Afghanistan