Khatami, Karzai And Rahmanov Come Together In Istanbul

ISTANBUL - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Afghan Head of State Hamid Karzai and Tajik Head of State Imamali Rahmanov, who attended the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit in Istanbul, came together on Tuesday.
Khatami, Karzai and Rahmanov who had a meeting in the morning, talked to the press after their meeting.
Iranian President Khatami said that Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran are neighboring countries and they spoke Persian, adding that they exchanged views about issues that concern the three countries and the region in their meeting.
Noting that they took up the issue of railway that goes through these three countries, Khatami said that they reached a consensus of opinion to develop the railways as soon as possible.
Stressing that Afghanistan needs reconstruction, Khatami said that as being countries which are neighbors of Afghanistan they will help Afghanistan in this issue.
Khatami said that they also discussed the issue of sowing alternative plant in place of opium poppy in Afghanistan, adding that they will help Afghanistan to sort out this problem.
When asked his views about foundation of a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq, Khatami said that ''there is a Kurdish minority in the region. The Kurds of Turkey are citizens of Turkey, Kurds of Syria are citizens of Syria, Kurds of Iraq are citizens of Iraq and Kurds of Iran are citizens of Iran. We, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria are against the separation of these Kurds from us and their founding a government.''
Khatami said that they were against the formation of a government as ethnic groups, ethnic and religious minorities came together.
Such a development would jeopardize security of the countries, Khatami noted.
Khatami stated that Iran respected to territorial integrity of Iraq and protect that territorial integrity.
Noting that they were definitely against a probable military operation on Iraq, Khatami said that such an operation would confuse things and make them graver.
Khatami pointed out that they wanted Iraq to abide by U.N. resolutions and Iran and Turkey were in cooperation in these issues.
They were trying for security and stability of the region, Khatami added.
Upon a question on a possible military intervention in Iraq, Karzai hoped that there would not be any attack on Iraq.
Karzai also hoped that the Iraqi issue would be solved peacefully and that the Iraqi people would have the opportunity to live a good life like other countries.
If a military intervention was made in Iraq, this should not have any effect on Afghanistan, Karzai said.
Karzai noted that many initiatives were made in his country to fight against terrorism.
Responding to a question on the recent situation in Afghanistan, Karzai said that everything was going well in his country and there was balance and peace in his country.
Karzai noted that children were going to school and reconstruction was under way. However, he stated, there were still many things to be done in Afghanistan.
Hamid Karzai responded in affirmative to the question if they took up energy during their meeting.
Foreign ministers of the three countries also attended the meeting among Khatami, Karzai and Rahmanov.