This is the second PRT Turkey has sent to Afghanistan, after its first successful PRT was established in Wardak province. PRTs focus on improving infrastructure and helping local Afghan authorities in administrative and security issues. Turkey dispatched an election-monitoring mission to Afghanistan to observe the presidential elections earlier this year, constituting the basis for the second PRT. On July 20, Davutoğlu will attend the launch of the PRT in Jowzjan province on the sidelines of the international Kabul donor conference.
The Kabul Conference, scheduled for July 20-21, will draw foreign ministers from more than 60 nations to Afghanistan, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to review government projects the international community hopes will kick start the economy. Key issues to be discussed at the conference include the eventual handover of security in various parts of the country to the Afghan security forces; work to extend governance deeper into Afghanistan’s 34 provinces; the training of Afghan soldiers and police; anti-corruption measures; and the government’s new program to get low to mid-level Taliban fighters to lay down their arms.
