Turkey in talks on Taliban office in Istanbul

ANKARA, Apr 15 (Reuters): Turkey is working to open a political office for the Taliban in Istanbul, a close aide to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying on Friday, the first explicit comments on the plan. "It's being negotiated right now," Ibrahim Kalin told the Hurriyet daily, adding the office would be located in Turkey's largest city, Istanbul. Muslim Turkey, which has hosted talks aimed at building trust between Pakistan and Afghanistan, has said before that it is open to the establishment of a diplomatic presence for the Taliban to help with talks to end the war in Afghanistan. A Pakistani official, speaking during a visit by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to Ankara on Thursday, told Reuters Pakistan would back such a plan. Analysts say that any solution to the Afghan conflict would probably require the support of Pakistan. The proposal first surfaced during a trilateral summit in December between Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan in Istanbul, in which Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Kabul would welcome any offer by Turkey meant to facilitate talks with the Taliban.