2010-06-08 16:43

ISTANBUL - Presidents and senior officials from about 40 countries started Asian confidence-building summit here Tuesday morning.

Heads of state present at the meeting include Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is also present at the summit.

The Third Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA) takes place in Istanbul's Ciragan Palace.