DUSHANBE, July 5, 2011, Asia-Plus -- Afghan problems and issues related to establishment of peace and accord in this country must trouble not only the Afghan people and the countries of the region, these problems must also trouble the whole international community.

Qosimsho Iskandarov, director of the Center for Afghanistan and Region Studies (Tajikistan), remarked this today while opening an international two-day roundtable titled “Conflict and Peace Building in Afghanistan: State and Prospects” will open in Dushanbe on July 5.  He expressed hope that the meeting that has brought together researchers and known political experts from ten countries of the world would make contribution to seeking solution to the Afghan problems.  

Delivering a statement at the meeting, Sayfullo Safarov, deputy director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan, expressed hope that the meeting would offer specific recommendations to the world community how to solve the Afghan problems.

Mr. Aziz Arianfar, formerly director of the Center for Strategic Studies at Afghan MFA and currently director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies (Germany), noted that there was conflict of interests of world powers in Afghanistan and “they have been playing cards of religious, linguistic and ethnic differences to attain their object.”

Organized by the Peace and Accord Committee of Tajikistan, the center for Afghanistan and Region Studies and the PolitKontakt Center for Political Technologies, the meeting has brought together political figures and experts from Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Germany and Kazakhstan as well as representatives from diplomatic missions active in Tajikistan to consider a number of topical issues related to social, political and economic aspects of the Afghan conflict.

The two main themes being discussed at the meeting are “Peacekeeping and Peace-building in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan:  Seeking New Parameters” and “International Factors of the Afghan Conflict.”