After the United States said it would ask Ankara to organise a high-level meeting between the Afghan government and the Taliban

Turkey ready to mediate Afghan peace process

photo_camera REUTERS/WILL RUSSELL - Ömer Çelik, spokesman for the Turkish ruling AKP party

Turkey has announced that it is ready to participate in the mediation of the Afghan peace process, after the United States said it will ask Ankara to organise a high-level meeting between the Afghan government and the Taliban. 

"Turkey is ready to be involved in all kinds of mediation efforts for peace in Afghanistan and the region," said Ömer Çelik, spokesman for the ruling AKP party, in a statement published in the daily Hürriyet on Wednesday. 

Çelik recalled that Afghanistan is an "important country for Turkey" and that the peace process will help improve stability in the region. 

On Sunday, US Chief of Mission Antony Blinken sent a letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in which he proposed a road map to accelerate the peace process with the Taliban. 

El presidente afgano Ashraf Ghani

The plan includes a ceasefire agreement and a meeting between the two sides that could be mediated by Turkey. 

On whether Turkey will play the role of mediator, Çelik said it depends on the "assessments of the Turkish foreign minister", Mevlüt Çavusoglu. 

At the end of December, Turkey decided to extend its troop deployment in Afghanistan, where NATO has had a mission since 2015 to train, advise and assist the Eurasian country's security forces.

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