In Afghanistan

Turkish presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın on Dec. 3 welcomed U.S. special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, the presidency said in a statement.

In a meeting at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara, the two discussed the ongoing intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha, Qatar, which are aimed at ending 19 years of war, as well as regional issues.

Turkey on Nov. 29 condemned the terrorist attack in central Afghanistan that killed at least 30 people, including both soldiers and civilians.

The death of a 27-year-old Afghan asylum seeker at the Ritsona migrant camp on Evia has sparked fresh protestations over the absence of a Muslim cemetery in Greece except for Thrace, leading to bodies being left in mortuaries for lack of a viable alternative.

The Afghan government's negotiating team is ready to begin the long-due intra-Afghan peace talks with the Taliban, President Ashraf Ghani announced in his Eid al-Fitr message on May 24. 

Flanked by his top aides outside the presidential palace's mosque, the Afghan president welcomed the Taliban's unexpected three-day truce declared for the Islamic festival.

The Afghan government announced today that it has released 100 Taliban prisoners from jail, France Press reported. This happens a day after the rebels announced that they were suspending the peace talks with Kabul about exchanging prisoners, according to them.

Turkey on March 30 condemned the terrorist attacks in Afghanistan which reportedly claimed 60 lives of many Afghan security forces.

The Taliban insurgents killed at least 24 Afghan security forces in an overnight raid on a joint police and army station in the country's south, an official confirmed on March 20.

Atta Jan, a provincial assembly member, confirmed the death toll to state-run Anadolu Agency reporters.

He said a number of Taliban infiltrators helped stage the deadly assault in Zabul province.

After a series of delays, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a decree early on March 11 promising to release 1,500 Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture to get intra-Afghan negotiations started.

A recent peace deal signed between the United States and the Taliban called for the release of up to 5,000 prisoners ahead of the much sought-after negotiations.

ISIL opened fire at a ceremony in Kabul on March 6, killing at least 32 people in the first major attack in the city since the United States reached an agreement with the Afghan Taliban on a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops.

A top Afghan political leader, Abdullah Abdullah, was present along with other key political figures and escaped unharmed.

The Taliban will not negotiate with the government in Kabul until about 5,000 of their associates are released from Afghan prisons, said a Taliban spokesman, quoted by the Associated Press. The statement was made at a time when the deadline for reducing hostilities in Afghanistan is expiring.