The end of the UN meeting on Afghanistan in Doha; Guterres: Our meeting was not about recognizing the Taliban

The end of the UN meeting on Afghanistan in Doha; Guterres: Our meeting was not about recognizing the Taliban

Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of this organization, said at the end of the two-day meeting of the United Nations in Doha, Qatar about Afghanistan with the presence of representatives of countries behind closed doors: This meeting is about creating a common international approach for interaction and is about to become official. Recognition of the Taliban government was not the focus of attention.

Mr. Guterres, who participated in a press conference on the second and last day of the meeting, said that efforts have been made for the participants to have a common and useful approach with the aim of interacting with the Taliban to help stabilize Afghanistan.

The Secretary General of the United Nations said that the participants entered these negotiations in Doha with the support of the Security Council resolution of this organization, which calls for the meaningful and equal participation of women and girls in all fields in Afghanistan.

Mr. Guterres also said that another UN meeting was scheduled to be held soon to discuss next steps.

Dawood Qarizadeh, BBC Persian correspondent in Doha, also says that many participating delegations are optimistic about the results of this meeting.

They have told the BBC that the negotiations were more productive than expected and the positions of the representatives of the countries participating in the meeting are close to each other.

Representatives of China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan/Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, England, America and Uzbekistan and representatives of the Union Europe and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation have participated in this meeting hosted by the United Nations.

The Taliban were not invited to this meeting and no representative of the Taliban participated in it. Although the Taliban have a political office in Doha, Qatar.
Event Place
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Sharq Doha Hotel was the venue of this two-day meeting

Mr. Guterres, of course, emphasized that in order to achieve our goals, “we cannot stop our interaction with the Taliban.”

He said all participants agreed on the need for a strategy for better engagement for stability in Afghanistan that also addresses key concerns. According to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan is a threat to this country and the region and beyond.

The non-inclusiveness of the Taliban government, especially the absence of various groups, including women, whose basic rights have been severely weakened due to the Taliban’s decisions, was another concern of the participants.

He said: While the concerns of different countries are diverse, all the concerns and challenges raised are intertwined.

Antonio Guterres said, “The United Nations will continue to use its power to adopt a forward-looking and just approach that puts the people of Afghanistan first.”

The Secretary General of the United Nations also pointed to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the lack of funds to deal with it and said: “Most of our employees are Afghan citizens, and banning women’s work is unacceptable and endangers the lives of many people.” We will never remain silent against these systematic attacks against women and girls. This is a huge violation of basic human rights.

He emphasized that the United Nations will never fail to adhere to its obligations towards the people of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Sohail Shaheen, the representative nominated by the Taliban for Afghanistan’s seat in the United Nations, confirmed to the BBC that without the presence of the Taliban, this meeting will not be successful.

He said: “Any meeting about Afghanistan will not be successful without the participation of the delegation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban government), which is the main party of the issue… It is the right of the Islamic Emirate to express its opinion in such meetings.” “If someone disagrees with our opinions, that’s a separate discussion, but not inviting us to this meeting is short.”

But Mr. Guterres today (Tuesday, 2nd of Thor) in response to a question about whether he will meet with Taliban representatives, he said that when the right time comes and now is not the right time to meet with them.