The visit of Türkiye's National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) chief Ibrahim Kalin to Afghanistan's capital of Kabul and the Afghan Taliban leadership's major city Kandahar on September 16, where he met with top officials a day before travelling to Pakistan, was a clear indication of Ankara's continued and sincere effort to help settle the dispute between the two neighbouring countries. Türkiye has already hosted talks between them in Ankara and Istanbul in November 2025. Some internal sources say these were indirect talks and that both sides remained inflexible in their positions, with no result so far.

Türkiye faces a Herculean task in resolving their issues, particularly as terrorism continues to rise in Pakistan, with Islamabad blaming the Afghan Taliban and India for supporting it. Kalin's visit did not produce any immediate results, as more than 50 Pakistani security and police officers have been killed in terrorist attacks in the week since his arrival in Kabul. Still, Ankara should continue its peace efforts to defuse the warlike situation in the region, as Türkiye is among the most trusted by both Kabul and Islamabad.

Kabul has publicly avoided disclosing the agenda of Kalin's visit to Afghanistan; nevertheless, visiting Islamabad soon after the two Afghan cities is a clear indication of Türkiye's mediation efforts to defuse armed hostilities between the two neighbors, with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a conglomerate of several militant groups, appearing to be the main topic of the agenda. Later that day, Hamad Khamis Al-Kubaisi, deputy secretary-general of Qatar's National Security Council, arrived in Kabul and met with senior Afghan Taliban leaders in separate meetings, with officials not disclosing the purpose of his visit.

Türkiye and Qatar have already hosted the two countries to resolve their disputes, with Pakistan accusing the Afghan Taliban of providing safe havens to the leadership and militants of TTP, as well as failing to combat cross-border terrorism, while Kabul denies the allegations, blaming Islamabad for carrying out airstrikes that have killed hundreds of innocent people in recent years.

Kalin had a broader agenda of discussions in Pakistan, including not only the issue of strained Kabul-Islamabad relations but also the spread of war in the Middle East, with the US bombing of Iran and Iranian retaliatory attacks on US installations, and the Yemeni Houthis' attacks on Saudi Arabia, with whom Ankara and Islamabad signed the Mecca defense pact in August, as well as the security and economic ramifications of the war for the world, particularly regional countries. Following his reception by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad, Kalin met with Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim........

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