Three-day ‘Afghanistan Future Thought Forum’ underway in Turkey

The 8th Session of the Afghanistan Future Thought Forum (AFTF) got underway in Istanbul on Tuesday and aims to tackle a number of issues including the findings of the recent independent assessment commissioned by the United Nations.

The three-day forum is being jointly hosted by Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation.

According to Sultan Barakat, Director of Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, a number of key figures are attending including Oğuzhan Ertuğrul, Turkey’s director general for South Asia and the UN’s special coordinator for Afghanistan Feridun Sinirlioğlu, among others.

Sinirlioğlu presented the findings of his recent independent assessment of Afghanistan at the meeting.

Barakat said in a post on X, that the participants were also expected to discuss three other key areas, including recent responses to natural disasters; the forced return of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran; and the impact the conditions of women are having on health issues in the country.

Sinirlioglu’s independent assessment of the situation in Afghanistan was also presented to the Security Council by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in early November.

Sinirlioğlu’s report proposed ways for the IEA to come out of international isolation. He recommended that a national dialogue should be held to form an inclusive government.