7th Trilateral Summit Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan

Delivering an address at the plenary session of the 7th Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Summit held at the Çankaya Presidential Palace, President Gül suggested that they take all measures steps to make the geographical distance between Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan unimportant and that they work tirelessly to boost the economic, trade, political and cultural relations between the three countries. President Abdullah Gül, as part of the summit program, separately welcomed President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan. Afterwards, President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had a tete-a-tete with Presidents Karzai and Zardari. The three Presidents and Prime Minister Erdoğan also had a meeting afterwards.

GÜL HOSTS LUNCHEON FOR KARZAI AND ZARDARI

After the family photo was taken, President Gül hosted a luncheon for President Zardari of Pakistan and President Zardari of Afghanistan. Evincing his happiness to welcome President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan to Turkey on the occasion of the 7th Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Summit, President Gül reiterated his satisfaction with the breadth and scope the trilateral summit process has achieved since 2007, when the first such summit was held

TRILATERAL SUMMIT CONTRIBUTES TO REGIONAL STABILITY AND PEACE

Thanks to this process, the President said, the fundamentals of the dialogue and cooperation between the three countries are expanding toward new horizons each year. These summits, the President said, serves as a platform to make decisions and put them into action for the good of the thre people and the greater region, adding that the tripartite cooperation between Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan contributes to the stability in the region as well, which he noted is appreciated by the international community indeed.

UNIQUE TURKISH-AFGHAN-PAKISTANI RELATIONS

Proclaiming the trilateral relations between Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan to be “one of a kind”, President Gül pointed out that these relations are beyond any ordinary interstate affair. “It is because our people’s hearts are tied to each other, because we are brothers and most importantly because we are connected by a common history. This is what makes our collaboration one of a kind. We have a historical responsibility to keep our relations stronger than ever since what we have is truly people-to-people bonds. Therefore we stand determined to further improve and consolidate the connections among the three brotherly countries. And this brings us to the theme of the 7th Trilateral Summit, “connectivity.”

“WE ARE RESOLUTE TO KEEP TRUST AND COOPERATION BETWEEN THE THREE COUNTRIES”

President Abdullah Gül, during the joint press conference he held with President Karzai of Afghanistan and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan after the plenary session of the 7th Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Summit at the Çankaya Presidential Palace, proclaimed that the existing tripartite cooperation between the three countries will continue and that they will seek new areas of collaboration. During the summit meetings, President Gül said the leaders and the relevant departments and agencies had come together and pointed to the great solidarity between the three countries, especially between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He stressed that they all demonstrated the necessary will for the development of the joint studies toward the resolution of the existing problems. As for economic growth and development, the transportation ministers of the three countries came together as well, said the President and he further pointed to the fact that they discussed how to improve the railway between Turkey and Pakistan. Referring to the great improvement of the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, President Gül underscored the importance of the existing trust and cooperation between Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well. “Before the summit last year, former Afghan President Burhaneddin Rabbani was killed in a terrorist assault. A few days before this meeting, another assault was staged on Head of the Afghan Intelligence Service, Mr. Esad and he was wounded there. Thank God, he is getting better. Despite all these sad events, we are resolute to continue to keep our cooperation and solidarity.”

“SECURITY, STABILITY AND PROSPERITY WILL PREVAIL IN THE REGION”

Reiterating that they reaffirmed the trust between the three countries during their talks as part of the summit, President Gül shared his hope that all the security problems between Afghanistan and Pakistan will be solved through dialogue and that security, prosperity, stability as well as the economic cooperation will prevail in the whole of the region. President Gül further extended his thanks to Presidents Zardari and Karzai for trusting Turkey in this regard.

KARZAI UNDERSCORES IMPORTANCE OF THE SUMMIT

President Karzai of Afghanistan also offered his thanks to President Gül for welcoming them for the 7th time to Turkey on the occasion of the summit and pointed to the tireless efforts Turkey has demonstrated, accentuating the importance of the summit.

ZARDARI REITERATES THEIR DETERMINATION TO WORK TOGETHER

As for President Zardari of Pakistan, he remembered that this is his 9th visit to Turkey and extended his thanks to President Gül for hosting the summit and having them in Turkey. The Pakistani president also referred to the assaults stated above and said some people do not want to see them work together in solidarity together, declaring: “We will continue to work as this will lead us to peace!”

COOPERATION IN FIGHTING AGAINST TERRORISM

President Gül, during the question and answer session, laid an emphasis upon the cooperation between the three countries in fighting against terrorism and pointed to the close collaboration in such areas as border security, intelligence sharing and military training between the relevant departments of the three countries. Responding to a query from a reporter who asked what role Turkey is playing in the peace process in Afghanistan, President Gül, pointing to the bilateral and trilateral meetings between the relevant agencies and officials yesterday as well as today, stressed Turkey’s facilitating contributions in the country. After the statements of the three presidents, a memorandum of understanding on the economic and trade cooperation was signed by the governments of Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Prior to the Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Summit, President Gül had hosted a dinner in honor of his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts at the Çankaya Presidential Palace.