ISTANBUL: Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler, and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will visit Pakistan next week to discuss tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Turkish president said on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters aboard his flight back from Azerbaijan, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that preparations are underway to send containers from Türkiye’s earthquake zone to Gaza, emphasising that Türkiye will extend its full support.
Erdoğan underscored the urgent need to deliver essential supplies to Gaza, describing the effort as “not just a matter of aid, but a matter of humanity.”
Highlighting that “winds of peace” are blowing in the wake of Azerbaijan’s victory in Karabakh, he noted that Türkiye is advancing the normalisation process with Armenia in coordination with Azerbaijan.
Addressing the ongoing conflict in Sudan, Erdoğan stated that Türkiye cannot remain on the sidelines and will persist in its diplomatic efforts to help restore peace and stability in the country.
Erdogan also noted that positive steps were taken regarding the F-35 fighter jets during his recent talks with US President Donald Trump, and expressed hope that promises made will be kept.
It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif late Friday said that the latest round of talks between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban had ended without any breakthrough and that no new meeting has been scheduled.
Speaking to a private news channel, Asif confirmed that the negotiation process is effectively on hold, as the dialogue framework proposed by Türkiye is currently inactive.
He added that Pakistan remains committed to peace but will no longer tolerate inaction from Kabul over cross-border militancy.
The Istanbul talks — mediated by Türkiye and Qatar — were seen as one of the most crucial diplomatic engagements between the two neighbours since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover.
However, despite intense backchannel diplomacy, officials said the discussions concluded late Friday night without tangible progress.
The deadlock, they said, stemmed from Kabul’s continued reluctance to take “verifiable and time-bound” steps against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) sanctuaries operating from Afghan soil.
