Turkey and Afghanistan have signed a strategic cooperation agreement outlining commitments on cooperation in the areas of security, reconstruction, trade, and investment.
The pact was inked during a one-day visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Afghanistan on October 18, the first by a Turkish head of state in nearly 60 years.
At a joint press conference, Erdogan and his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, said the accord envisages greater Turkish investment in Afghanistan’s mining sector.
During his visit, Erdogan was awarded the country's highest honor -- the Ghazi Amanullah Khan medal -- and inaugurated a road in Kabul that has been constructed with Turkey’s financial support.
Turkey has been playing an important role in supporting Afghanistan in military, economic, and reconstruction areas since the Taliban's ouster in 2001.