Turkic Council meets in Istanbul to discuss Afghanistan

By Nazli Yuzbasioglu and Behlul Cetinkaya

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkic Council members are meeting in Istanbul on Monday to discuss current developments in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have taken power.

“Developments in Afghanistan have global implications. However, the Turkish world, as Afghanistan's neighbor, feels the impact of these developments more,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu while addressing the Extraordinary Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Turkic Council.

“The fact that millions of Turkish kin live in Afghanistan is of direct interest to us."

He added: “We have special relations with Afghanistan. Therefore, it is important that we send a strong message to the world with the joint statement we will make at the end of the meeting.”

According to Cavusoglu, the issues on the agenda are efforts to support economic stability and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, promote an inclusive government, prevent a new wave of migration, as well as preventing terrorist groups from taking root again in the country.

Top diplomats of the Turkic Council member states Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and Hungary, which has an Observer State status, are attending the meeting.

It is being held upon the invitation of Cavusoglu, who will also hold bilateral talks with his counterparts.

- Karabakh war

Speaking at the event, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said Sept. 27 marks the beginning of an end to the Armenian occupation in Upper Karabakh.

“The unity of the Azerbaijani people, army and the chief commander on the battlefield for 44 days showed that status quo had to change,” he said.

The latest big-scale clashes in Karabakh erupted last September when the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces.

During a subsequent 44-day conflict which ended under a Russia-brokered deal in November, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from Armenia’s nearly three-decade occupation.