Turkey denies opening of Taliban office

Turkey denied reports of Taliban militant group having opened an office in the capital Ankara in an effort to revive peace process. On Saturday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry denied reports by the Pakistani paper the Frontier Post, which followed a trilateral summit in Ankara between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey earlier this month, Al-Alam reported. The foreign ministry said the report "does not reflect the truth" and that "no such office has been opened in Turkey". The paper also reported that Pakistan's top intelligence officials had met with the political advisor of the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in the Turkish capital. Mullah Omar has been in hiding since the United States and its allies entered the war in Afghanistan in October 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but after more than 12 years, the foreign troops have still not been able to establish security in the country.