Turkey welcomes Afghan's call for peace process with Taliban

Ankara [Turkey], Mar. 27 (ANI): The Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday welcomed Afghanistan's unconditional call to initiate a peace process with the militant group Taliban.

"We welcome the call of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for starting negotiations with the Taliban without preconditions," Cavusoglu said while addressing the Tashkent Conference on Afghanistan in the Uzbek capital, as reported by the Anadolu Agency.

Earlier on March 25, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he was optimistic to end the four-year-old insurgency crises in the country while saying that the on-going peace process was on for national consensus.

Cavusoglu further urged various groups that are active within Afghanistan to recognise the ruling Afghan government.

"We want all the groups in Afghanistan to recognize the Afghan government, condemn violence and become part of legitimate politics," Cavusoglu added.

He further emphasized on the need of the participation by the international agencies to help in the reconciliation process.

Speaking at the same conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underscored the importance of a constructive dialogue between Afghanistan and Taliban for peace and stability in the country.

Further European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said it to be an exemplary opportunity for peace.

Earlier on February 28 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani dwelled on a plan to conduct a peace process with Taliban which might include the latter to be declared as a political party.

However, the Taliban group is yet to respond to President Ghani's offer. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI