KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – As the UN-hosted meeting on Afghanistan approaches, regional countries, Afghan activists, and political figures are organizing gatherings to discuss the upcoming event and consolidate their prospects.
Earlier, Zamir Kabulov, the Russian President’s special envoy for Afghanistan, announced that the Moscow Format Contact Group meeting on Afghanistan is scheduled for Saturday, June 8th, in Tehran, the capital city of Iran.
As reported by the Russian state news agency TASS, Mr. Kabulov said that the meeting, which will bring together representatives from Russia, China, Iran, and Pakistan, will primarily focus on preparing for the upcoming Doha meeting on Afghanistan.
“We have discussed with representatives of the Afghan leadership the preparations for the next, third meeting of special representatives for Afghanistan and the UN Secretary-General in Doha,” the Russian diplomat said. “This meeting will be held on June 30 – July 1 in Doha, but prior to that, we will gather in Tehran, literally this Saturday. This is the so-called Moscow format Contact Group. Apart from Russia, it includes Iran, China, and Pakistan,” he added.
Meanwhile, several Afghan activists and political figures gathered in Ankara, Turkey’s capital city, today for a two-day meeting to discuss the upcoming UN meeting on Afghanistan.
Among the participants of the Ankara meeting are Shah Gul Rezaie and Rahela Dostum, former members of the Afghanistan parliament, Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Afghanistan’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, and Faizullah Zaki, the former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Afghanistan.
The third high-level UN-hosted meeting on Afghanistan, with the participation of special envoys from countries involved in Afghanistan, is scheduled to take place on June 30 and July 1 in Doha, the capital city of Qatar.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that the two-day meeting aims to enhance international engagement with Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in a more cohesive, coordinated, and structured manner.
Although the UN extended an advance invitation to Taliban authorities to participate in the event, the regime has not yet confirmed their attendance. The unrecognized regime in Afghanistan recently announced that it has received the details and agenda of the meeting and is currently discussing them.
In the previous similar meeting, the Taliban refused to participate after their demands to be recognized as the sole official representatives of Afghanistan and to hold an exclusive meeting with the UN Secretary-General were rejected.
It remains uncertain whether the UN will extend invitations to any Afghan political figures and representatives from Afghan civil society to the upcoming meeting; however, several anti-Taliban political parties, armed groups, and rights activists have criticized the UN for inviting only the Taliban.
In a joint statement yesterday, they said that any dialogue conducted without the main representatives of the Afghan people effectively legitimizes the “terrorist group,” the Taliban.
“Political parties, groups involved in the issues, and women’s protest movements, as the articulators of the will of the people, ethnic groups, and women against the oppression, terrorism, discrimination, and apartheid dominating the country, should be present at the meeting to discuss international engagement with Afghanistan,” they said.
