TOKYO, Jan 21 (A.A) - State Minister Edip Safter Gaydali met with Afghan interim government leader Hamid Karzai on Monday in Tokyo where he went to attend an international conference about rebuilding of Afghanistan.
After the meeting, Gaydali told the A.A that, during the half hour meeting, both sides confirmed that Turkey and Afghanistan have ties rooted from the history and he also briefed Karzai about the aid Turkey would provide to Afghanistan.
Noting that Turkey wants to offer Afghanistan its experience on South Eastern Anatolia Project (GAP), Gaydali said ''There has been a serious drought in Afghanistan for the last three four years. Therefore, we want to provide agricultural support to Afghanistan.''
The state minister also indicated that Turkey could renovate the Ataturk Children's Hospital in Kabul and send medicine and medical equipment to the hospital.
Another possible contribution of Turkey could be in the formation of security and police force, he said and added that Turkey could train the police force.
Karzai indicated that they were open to cooperation in every field. He also declared that ten Afghan diplomats would be sent to Turkey for training.
Gaydali said that Afghan immigrants have been living in Turkey in the last decade and that they fully integrated with the Turkish society. He stated that Turkey was going to provide five million U.S. dollars to Afghanistan in the next five years in addition to the humanitarian aid. Gaydali also pointed out that Afghanistan should benefit from Turkey's experience in clearing mines.
Gaydali and Karzai also agreed to employ Turkish contractors in Afghanistan for the rebuilding of the country.
Gaydali invited Karzai to Turkey and Karzai said he would definitely visit Turkey.