Afghan Reconciliation Efforts and the State of Affairs in the Region… In a meeting at TEPAV, with Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide as the key note speaker, the current state of Afghanistan was evaluated via the last 10 years' facts in the country.
ANKARA - TEPAV organized a roundtable meeting with the theme "Afghan Reconciliation Efforts and Regional Implications". Espen Barth Eide, Deputy Foreign Minister of Norway, which has troops in Afghanistan was the keynote speaker.
Delivering a speech at the meeting on 11 January 2011, Eide stated that huge efforts and resources were paid for Afghanistan during the 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban government, whereas there still existed a deep problem. Eide stated that the overthrown of the Taliban was the easy part of the process in Afghanistan in 2001-2002, followed by numerous challenges. Talking about the current unfeasible military solution, Eide said that Afghanistan needs more development and justice. In this context Deputy Foreign Minister Eide emphasized the importance of the regional dialogue and cooperation. Explaining that there are very different opinions on civil rights, rights of women and free press, Eide also stressed the lack of consensus on many issues in Afghanistan.
The other keynote speaker of the meeting Kristian Berg Harpviken, PRIO (Peace Research Institute Oslo) Director assessed that the current state in the country involves bigger challenges for the region today.
In the meeting Hikmet Çetin, Former NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan also made an assessment. While giving examples about the progress in the country, Çetin stressed that more Afqhan girls are going to school today. Cetin also maintained that in spite of such promising examples the peace process in Afghanistan has not been achieved yet. Çetin said that there have been deep efforts from different parties all of which however agree that political and military approaches would not be a solution. Çetin also emphasized that in Afghanistan the peace should be achieved via a national process. Stating that without the economic development the country will not advance, Çetin pointed out the big potential of Afghanistan in agriculture and energy.
The meeting witnessed broad participation from the diplomacy and academia, predominantly from the embassies of the countries in Ankara. After the opening speeches, the audience commented on the required steps for the democracy, security, education and alleviation of poverty in Afghanistan.
