Afghan President Karzai leaves for Turkey

Afghan President Hamid Karzai left for Turkey on Wednesday to attend the 11th summit of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the Presidential Palace said in a statement.

"President Hamid Karzai as the head of high ranking delegation left for Istanbul to attend the 11th ECO summit which opens there on Thursday," the statement said.

Established in 1985 with the objective to promote economic and trade cooperation, currently ECO has 10 members including the trio founding members -- Turkey, Pakistan and Iran -- and Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.

During his stay in Turkey, the Afghan president will also hold talks with Pakistani and Turkish counterparts and exchange views on boosting political, economic and cultural relations, the statement added.

Source: Xinhua