The Taliban and Afghan governments will attend peace talks in Istanbul from April 24 to May 4 meany to begin the peace process and sketch the possible political settlement in the Afghan conflict, host Turkey said on Tuesday. The 10-day Summit includes the United Nations and Qatar as part of the Washington-backed push to jump-start the talks ahead of the US troops withdrawal deadline under the Doha agreement.
On Monday, the Taliban said it did not want, based on time, to attend talks in Turkey at first scheduled for April 16. “Participation in the conference and agenda has become a broad subject of consultation with the Afghan parties,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
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The discussion was intended to end the conflict, opening the way towards the political settlement “only” which was durable “and” accelerated and completed intra-Afghanistan negotiations that were ongoing in Doha, he said. This is an “opportunity for all partners to repeat support for Afghans on their way towards peace, stability, and inclusive prosperity,” added ministries in a statement.
Officials are worried that violence in the country will surge if an agreement is not immediately achieved. US envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has traveled to this region to drive support for the settlement of a ceasefire and peace that can include the government while ahead of the May 1 deadline.
US President Joe Biden said it would be “difficult” to withdraw troops at the time, but it was impossible for them to stay in Afghanistan next year. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has held a series of calls with colleagues, including the United States and several Arab countries, to invite them to the conversation and drum up support during the past week.
