Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country will host the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan for a meeting geared toward bringing peace to Afghanistan.

Erdogan spoke Friday at a joint news conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is making his first visit to Turkey since he came to power in August.

Erdogan said the trilateral meeting would take place in Istanbul after Turkey’s March local election.

 

Khan told reporters he hoped the meeting would bring “badly needed peace” to Afghanistan.

Erdogan, meanwhile, welcomed Pakistan’s decision to hand over schools affiliated with exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen to a Turkish government foundation. Turkey blames Gulen for a 2016 failed coup.

Khan on Thursday visited the tomb of the 13th-century Sufi mystic Jalaladdin Rumi in the city of Konya.

 
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