A high-level delegation from Turkiye will arrive in Islamabad next week for crucial discussions on escalating tensions between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban government, as Ankara pushes for a peaceful resolution.
This was confirmed by Turkiye’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Dr. Irfan Neziroglu, during a conversation on Oman’s National Day reception hosted by Ambassador Fahad Sulaiman Khalaf Al-Kharusi.
The visit was first hinted at earlier this month when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Baku.
The development comes after Pakistan–Afghanistan talks in Istanbul ended without a breakthrough, largely due to Kabul’s reluctance to act against militant groups operating from its territory.
Dr. Neziroglu, who played a key role in facilitating the trilateral process, revealed that Turkiye’s intelligence chief and several key ministers would be part of the delegation. Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar will also travel to Islamabad during the visit.
The ambassador emphasized that Turkiye wants to ensure militant groups do not use Afghan soil to target Pakistan.
“Both countries should live like brothers. Turkiye is determined to make that possible,” he said.
Pakistan–Afghanistan tensions persist, with Islamabad repeatedly urging Kabul to curb cross-border terrorism.
The tensions between the two neighbouring nations escalated when the Taliban forces and India-backed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as Fitna al-Khawarij, resorted to an unprovoked attack on Pakistan on October 12.
The Pakistan Armed Forces gave a befitting response to the aggression, killing over 200 Afghan Taliban and affiliated militants in a self-defence action.
The military's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said that 23 soldiers embraced martyrdom in the clashes with the Taliban forces and the terrorists.
Furthermore, the security forces also conducted “precision strikes” in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province and the capital Kabul, as well as in the border areas of North and South Waziristan districts, successfully destroying multiple strongholds in response to the aggression.
The two sides had agreed on a temporary ceasefire during the Doha talks on October 19 and later held several meetings in Istanbul, with Pakistan aiming to devise a mechanism to stop cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghan soil.
The Istanbul talks could not deliver the desired results due to stubbornness from the Afghan side, as Kabul used the Istanbul talks to malign Pakistan rather than address Islamabad's core concern of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil.
