13.02.2014 Ankara
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu attended Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan Tri-partite Summit’s 8th Meeting held at the Çankaya Palace hosted by President of the Republic, Abdullah Gül.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
provided information regarding the jointly created form by TOBB and the
chambers unions of Afghanistan and Pakistan during the meeting which was also
attended by Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan Prime Minister
Muhammed Navaz Şerif.
- President Gül
Speaking at the
plenary session of the summit, President Abdullah Gül stated that reciprocal
trust, dialogue and joint interest has been established between the countries
and institutions taking part in the Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan Tri-partite
Summit, “This could be considered the greatest gain of the summit.
Our partnership takes
its power from the bonds of friendship and solidarity between our people.
From the very
beginning, we planned to increase the momentum of our cooperation and to
increase the joint work culture between our institutions. To this end, we have
included the economy, intelligence and security institutions into this process
as well.”
- Joint press meeting of Gül, Karzai and Şerif
Turkish President
Abdullah Gül, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan PM Muhammed Navaz
Şerif held a joint press meeting following the summit.
Gül stated that the
summit meetings began in 2007 in order to engender better cooperation between
the institutions of the three countries, “Especially in regards to maintaining
peace in Asia, speeding up the peace process in Afghanistan as well as
spreading the cooperation to all institutions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
Gül emphasized that
they’ve discussed the issues quite clearly with Karzai and Şerif during a
meeting of presidents and prime ministers attended by PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Afghanistan President
Hamid Karzai stated that they have been greeted very warmly and in a brotherly
manner in Turkey and that they’ve found opportunity to exchange ideas on many
issues such as security, defense, peace settlements and transportation, “2014
is a very important year from Afghanistan, it will be a transitional year; it
will be significant especially in regards to security.” Stating that Afghani
forces have begun taking on security responsibilities from NATO forces Karzai
pointed out that there will be presidential and local elections as well .
Pakistan PM Muhammed
Navaz Şerif expressed his joy in visiting Turkey which he views as his second
home and went on to thank the Turkish government and people for their support.
Stating that he is very pleased to have met with President Karzai during the
Summit, Şerif said, “Pakistan admires the steps taken by Turkey to instate
peace in the heart of Asia.”
Speaking in regards
to Pakistan’s support for the peace and negotiation process in Afghanistan,
Şerif said, “Afghanistan is undergoing a historic period. All Afghans must
unite, ensure peace and rebuild their country. We believe that the Afghan
people will overcome these difficulties with their acumen. My government is
also determined to maintain good neighborly relations in our bilateral
relations with Afghanistan.”