Afghanistan and Turkey relations span several centuries, as many Turkic and Afghan peoples ruled vast areas of Central Asia and the Middle East particularly the Ghaznavids, Seljuks, Khalji, Timurid, Mughal, Afsharid and Durrani empires.

Following the death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Afghanistan was deeply saddened, and Amanullah Khan, who was in exile in Rome made a special attendance.

In 1937, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Turkey signed the Treaty of Saadabad.

Turkey's support of the Bonn Agreement and the Afghan Constitution Commission resulted in an official visit to Turkey by Afghan President Hamid Karzai on April 4, 2002, and made a reciprocal visit to Afghanistan by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a short time later.

Turkey launched a trilateral summit process between the two states and Pakistan in February 2007, following a visit by then Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül to Islamabad, as the backbone of its diversified foreign policy in South Asia and Pakistani deputy Humair Hayat Khan Rokhri confirmed that according to Gül “we are all brothers who need to support each other,” in order to, “bring security and stability to the region.”[5] An April 1, 2009 meeting between Afghan and Pakistani leaders, conducted as part of the trilateral Ankara cooperation process, saw the three countries pledged to increase coordination between their political, military, and intelligence tiers in the fight against militancy and terrorism.

Turkish Parliamentary Deputy Kayatürk has stated that, “It is the first time that the military and intelligence chiefs of Afghanistan and Pakistan have attended the trilateral summit, which is a reflection of the deeper commitment to work together.”[3]

Head of the Turkish Parliament's Foreign Relations Commission Murat Mercan stated; “Today we need cooperation between our countries more than ever.

Mercan concluded, “We are finally on the verge of institutionalizing the trilateral Ankara cooperation process within the framework of parliamentary joint initiatives,” with follow-up meetings due to be held in Islamabad and Kabul at four-month intervals.