A trilateral meeting between the ministers of foreign affairs of Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan will take place on Friday in Istanbul, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
“Along with recent developments regarding the Afghan peace process, cooperation in the fields of security, energy, connectivity and irregular migration will be discussed during the Trilateral Meeting,” it said.
“On the margins of the meeting, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will also hold bilateral meetings with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts,” it added.
In the meantime, Haneef Atmar, Afghanistan's foreign minister, has left Kabul for Istanbul this morning to attend the meeting.
At the meeting, the resumption of peace talks, the strengthening of a regional consensus in support of Afghan peace, the role of Turkey and Pakistan, and the strengthening of trilateral relations will be discussed, the Afghanistan foreign ministry said in a statement.
This comes as the US-backed Afghan peace conference in Turkey was postponed over non-participation by the Taliban.
The conference was scheduled for April 24 and was expected to see inclusive participation from parties to the Afghan conflict.
“We have consulted with Qatar, the US and the UN,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday. “We have decided to postpone the Istanbul Conference on the Afghanistan peace process after Eid al-Fitr.”
The US, Turkey, Qatar and UN have reportedly attempted to convince the Taliban to attend the planned meeting in Turkey.
But the group has insisted that the US first needs to implement the Doha agreement before the start of the Istanbul conference, meaning that the US needs to honor its agreement signed under the Trump administration to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by May 1.
The Afghan government on Tuesday said the list of a republic delegation for the conference has been finalized.
A high-level Afghan government official who spoke on condition of anonymity told TOLOnews that there is the possibility that a 15- or 17-member team will represent the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at the conference scheduled for April 24.
The High Council of National Reconciliation (HCNR) also confirmed the finalization of the republic's negotiating team.