Iran Press/Iran news: The conference will be inaugurated on Monday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani, with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Idrees Zaman, acting minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, acting as co-chairs, said a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement.
The Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process initiative was launched in 2011 in Istanbul by Turkey and Afghanistan to enhance regional cooperation towards Afghanistan.
It has two chair-states with Afghanistan as the permanent one and a co-chair from among the 14 member states that rotate once a year.
In the Istanbul meeting, Turkey will hand over its co-chairmanship, which it assumed in 2017 at the 7th Ministerial Conference in Baku, to Tajikistan, said the statement.
"This platform was established to address the shared challenges and interests of Afghanistan and its neighbors and regional partners. The Heart of Asia is comprised of 15 participating countries, 17 supporting countries, and 12 supporting regional and international organizations," according to official website of The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process.
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