Turkey huddle’s agenda not yet clear: Ghani aide

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani’s adviser on Public and Strategic Relations Waheed Omar on Thursday said the agenda of an international summit on Afghanistan in Turkey was not yet clear, but the Afghan government has drawn up a peace plan.

Omar told a press conference here that the Afghan government supported and participated in any meeting aimed at bringing peace and prosperity to Afghanistan.

The presidential advisor said the agenda of the summit in Ankara was not yet clear and it was also not clear who would attend on behalf of the government. He said more details in this regard would be shared later.

The United States had proposed a UN-sponsored meeting on Afghan peace in Turkey. The meeting will be attended by government leaders, Afghan politicians and Taliban representatives and by special representatives of the countries involved in the case of Afghanistan.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu a few days ago said that the meeting would take place in April, but did not give an exact date.

The Afghan government has already announced that it will attend the summit in Turkey.

Waheed Omar hoped the Taliban would share an alternative in Turkey if they did not accept the election in order to lure public support.

He said the Taliban should stop the ongoing hostilities if they really wanted peace in order the peace talks could be accelerated.

The only way to achieve peace and stabilize Afghanistan was allowing the people to choose their own leader, the advisor said.

Omar said peace that was achieved through a multi-party deal was unacceptable to the people of Afghanistan.

He said the president had not drafted a plan for elections, but had drawn up a plan for peace. He did not elaborate.

About the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, he said the government’s position in this regard was clear and that the withdrawal was linked to Taliban fulfilling their commitments.

He said that even if US forces leave Afghanistan, the Afghan security forces are capable enough, as they currently carry out 98 percent of the operations themselves.

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