Afghans see Summit historic opportunity

KABUL (Tolo News): Thousands of people gathered at Ghazi Football Stadium in Kabul to oppose further violence in the country and expressed their support to the upcoming UN-led conference on Afghanistan in Turkey.

Those attended the gathering recalled the upcoming summit in Turkey a unique opportunity for peace and said that Afghanistan’s values and gains in the areas of women’s rights, elections, press freedom and democratic principles reflected in the Constitution should be preserved. Participants at the gathering also called for an immediate end to the war.

They call on the warring parties to agree on a ceasefire at the conference. “We want a peace that is acceptable to all parties,” said Babakarkhel, a resident of Kabul. “One of the fundamental demands is the holding of transparent and neutral elections,” said Sayed Ali Kazimi, the head of Hizb-e-Harakat-e-Islami.

A number of Afghan political leaders, lawmakers and religious dignitaries also attended the gathering. “The people of Afghanistan do not want a unilateral peace to be imposed on them whether from the national or international and national channels,” said Abdul Qader Qalatwal. “We are here today to reflect the sentiment and aspiration of the people to the international community. Afghans are thirsty for peace and justice,” said Mahmoud Kalakani, a resident in Kalakan.

“We don’t want a government in which there is no respect to law, human rights, women’s rights and liberty as we experienced it in the past,” said Mohammad Yaqoub Haidari, the governor of Kabul.