Istanbul hosts trilateral Turkish-Afghan-Pakistani summit

President Abdullah Gul yesterday met with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari at the Fourth Turkey-Pakistan-Afghanistan Trilateral Summit at Istanbul's Ciragan Palace. Speaking at a joint press conference alongside Karzai and Zardari, Gul said that Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan had been working together to solve problems in the region. Stating that they had discussed trilateral cooperation at the summit to secure peace and friendship in the region, Gul said the countries' education ministers had also met. "Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan are connected to one another with deep-rooted historic and cultural ties," Gul stressed, adding that the three countries would continue their cooperation in various areas. "We hope our efforts to solve problems in the region will yield favorable outcomes." He added that Turkish and Pakistani transportation officials had also discussed restoring a railway line between the two countries. Hosted by Gul, the summit will also be home today to another cooperation initiative, called the Summit of Friendship and Cooperation in the Heart of Asia. Aside from the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan, top officials from neighboring countries such as China, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan will also attend the meeting. Today's participants at the summit also include Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi and British Foreign Minister David Miliband. Joint projects promoting regional stability, security and prosperity have started to emerge from the summit. One endeavor towards that end involves cooperation in the area of education. According to a joint statement by the three countries' education ministers, they have a memorandum of understanding to establish mechanisms in the areas of vocational training, exchange programs, scholarships, teacher training, fighting illiteracy, and overcoming gender disparity.