ISTANBUL, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai saidhere on Monday that peace could not be ensured in the region by only taking military measures.

    Karzai made the statement at an informal consultation meeting between Afghanistan and its neighboring countries held on the sidelines of the Economy Summit of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

    The visiting president said that Afghanistan had been in a state of turmoil and under occupation for decades. Now, it is time for peace and prosperity to prevail.

    He said that political and other contributions were essential to create a peaceful atmosphere in the region.

    Karzai added that Afghanistan had recently made great progress with the assistance of Turkey and the other friendly countries.

    Turkish President Abdullah Gul called for concerted efforts to help Afghan government rebuild and ensure peace and order in the country.

    "We cannot expect that the United States and the European countries, as the major actors in the region, can solve the problem on their own. We need to take responsibility as well," Abdullah Gul told an informal meeting of "Afghanistan's neighbors" on the sidelines of the economic summit.

    "We need to re-think our presence in Afghanistan and ask ourselves this question: 'Why are we there and what is our strategy?' We all want to see an Afghanistan that is peaceful and prosperous. And that is why we need to concentrate our powers. Afghanistan's success will be our success, too," Gul said.

    The Turkish president said two major goals should be pursued in Afghanistan to make Afghan people believe in their future and take responsibility of their own country.

    "Our first goal should be to win the hearts and minds to secure peace and stability. And our second goal should be conveying responsibility of security issues to Afghans," Gul said.