Turkish premier arrives in Afghanistan

By Sinan Uslu and Sayed Khodaberdi Sadat

KABUL (AA) - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim arrived in Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Sunday for a day-long visit.

Yildirim was received by Afghan Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak and Turkish Ambassador to Kabul Oguzhan Ertugrul at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The Turkish premier was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Hakan Cavusoglu, Culture and Tourism Minister Numan Kurtulmus, Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan, the head of the Turkey-Mongolia inter-parliamentary friendship group Mehmet Erdogan, the head of the Turkey-Afghanistan inter-parliamentary friendship group Huseyin Kocabiyik and a member of parliament Aydin Unal.

During his visit, Yildirim is expected to be welcomed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace.

The Turkish premier will also hold a closed-door meeting with Afghan Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, followed by a joint news conference.

Yildirim is also expected to visit Turkey's task force command post in Kabul and inaugurate a mosque built by Turkey's Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), which is named after martyred senior master sergeant Bulent Aydin.

After visiting the command post at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Yildirim is scheduled to return to Turkey.