Republic negotiators reported progress made in multilateral meetings over the past few days for the upcoming conference in Turkey. The meetings have focused on the agenda of the conference in Istanbul, which is expected to significantly change the direction of the ongoing peace efforts in Afghanistan.

The negotiators said some agreements have been made on the context and scope of the Istanbul conference in their talks in Doha over the past week, which included representatives of the Afghan republic, the Taliban, UN, US and Qatar.

“Preparations are being made on the context of discussions, principles and values that would be discussed in Turkey as well as coordination among countries and organizations,” republic negotiator Fawzia Koofi said.

The High Council for National Reconciliation said that so far discussions are underway on the participation of a 12 to 15-member delegation on behalf of the Afghan republic at the Turkey summit.

Former Taliban member Abdul Salam Zaeef said the Turkey conference will be an ordinary event if the involved parties do not reach a common ground in Doha ahead of the summit.

“It will be good to have some results from the Doha talks, but if the talks have no outcome, the Turkey summit will be an ordinary meeting,” Zaeef said.

The High Council for National Reconciliation said that it expects the Turkey summit to provide the foundation for a ceasefire and a transition from crisis.

“The formation of the delegation is expected to be limited to 12 to 15 members, considering the big decisions that will be made; however, so far, no decision has been made on a bigger number,” an adviser to the council, Mujib Rahman Rahimi, said.

Amid efforts to prepare for the Turkey conference, Abdullah Abdullah, head of the reconciliation council, met with Oguzhan Ertugrul, the Turkish ambassador in Kabul.

“We discussed in detail the preparations for the upcoming peace conference on Afghanistan in Turkey, and the steps forward,” Abdullah said in a tweet.