"The idea of Turkey serving as a place where gatherings can take place, where representation can be established in order to facilitate reconstruction and reintegration has been discussed," Karzai told a joint news conference with his counterparts from Turkey and Pakistan.
"If Turkey can be kind enough to provide such a venue we, the government of Afghanistan, will be happy and pleased to see this facilitation take place." Karzai had been asked to comment on an interview with a former Taliban official, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef by Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The proposal for the Taliban to be allowed to establish some kind of diplomatic presence in Turkey surfaced in the interview. President Asif Ali Zardari denied that the Inter-Services Intelligence was supporting the Taliban, but said there were "non-state actors" who were helping the militants.
"Let me assure you that the ISI is not involved with the Taliban," Zardari said. Gul stressed the need for the intelligence services to work together and a statement issued at the end of the summit said the heads of three countries intelligence agencies had met in Istanbul on December 2-3. President Abdullah Gul of Turkey said he had not seen the report but voiced support in general terms. "Whatever will serve the future reconstruction of Afghanistan - we will be there," Gul said.