National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on Friday.

The two sides discussed security cooperation, the fight against terrorism, an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process and cultural ties, the presidential palace in Kabul announced.

Ghani said Turkey and Afghanistan share mutual religious and cultural values and friendly ties.

Ghani praised Turkey's cooperation in the fields of security, education and economy, especially in terms of training women police officers.

Turkey has trained 5,397 Afghan police officers since 2001, when the first police training agreement was signed between the two countries, Ankara's diplomat in Kabul said Friday.

The 2001 treaty reached by the two counties' interior ministries facilitated the training of officers in 95 different fields, İlker Türkbayrak, Turkey's Interior Ministry's undersecretary in the Turkish Embassy in Kabul, said.

Türkbayrak told Anadolu Agency (AA) that a new phase began in 2011 with twice-yearly courses at a police training center in Turkey's central Sivas province.

Noting that 1,335 female officers were trained, he said Turkey was proud to have played such a major role in the training of half of Afghanistan's female police personnel. He said there were plans to increase the proportion of women in the force within next four years.

As part of another deal in 2015, some 60 officers graduated in 2018 from Ankara's Police Academy, of which 20 were sent to Afghanistan as trainers.

Akar, while praising the bravery and sacrifices of the Afghan forces, pledged full support for lasting peace and training of the police force, the statement added.

Akar arrived in the Afghan capital after a two-day visit to neighboring Pakistan.