On July 6th,the first meeting of the "Joint Working Group" comprised of officials from Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan was held in the Turkish capital,to boost confidence-building between Afghanistan and Pakistan .

Upon an invitation by Ertugrul Apakan, Undersecretary of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister, H.E. Mohammad Kabir Farahi and Pakistani Foreign Secretary, H.E. Riaz Muhammad Khan attended the meeting. The following Joint Press Statement on the conclusion of the visit was released.

1.Participation of the mid-level Afghan and Pakistani experts in the courses organized at the Center of Excellence on Defense Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) in Ankara;

2.Participation of officials from relevant law-enforcement authorities of both countries in courses offered by the Turkish International Academy Against Drugs and Organized Crime (TADOC);

3.Conducting feasibility studies for joint projects identified by the two governments with the assistance of the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency;

The Joint Working Group also agreed on:

1Enhance the security cooperation through established mechanisms, especially to deny sanctuary, training and financing to terrorists and to elements involved in subversive and anti-state activities in each other's country, and to initiate immediate action on specific intelligence exchanges in this regard;

2.Recommend to the ministerial level joint economic commission between the two countries to look into the matters related to transportation, transit and Customs;

3.Promote cooperation for exchange of programmes in the media with a view of strengthening the brotherly relations between the two countries;

4.Establish cooperation in providing early warning against natural disasters and to exchange relevant information including meteorological cooperation;

5.Promote people to people contact and exchange including among the parliamentarians, journalists and

academicians between the two countries, especially through official channels;

fghanistan and Pakistan delegations expressed thanks for the warm hospitality extended to them by the Turkish side.