Istanbul: The Afghan peace conference that was scheduled to take place in Istanbul on April 16 is now expected to be postponed to April 26, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said on Tuesday.
In response to a question posed by Daily Sabah regarding the Taliban’s latest announcement that it would not participate in the talks, the Foreign Ministry stated that they expect that the talks will be delayed and will likely be held on April 26.
A Taliban spokesperson said Monday that the religious militia would not attend a peace conference tentatively planned for later this week in Turkey, putting U.S. efforts to set in place a peace plan anytime soon in jeopardy.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken previously said he wanted to see a peace agreement between Afghanistan’s warring sides finalized at a conference hosted by Turkey and attended by top officials from both the Taliban and the Afghan government.
The Afghan government, U.S. and Turkish officials had said that they intended to begin the conference Friday. It was to last 10 days.
No new date for the Turkey conference was officially set but time is running out on a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan in keeping with a deal the Trump administration made with the Taliban more than a year ago.
After the Taliban’s announcement, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held a constructive phone call with Blinken, Foreign Ministry sources said Monday.
The two ministers discussed bilateral issues, the Afghanistan peace process and the planned meeting in Istanbul, as well as developments in Syria and the Middle East, sources said, calling it a “constructive and fruitful meeting.”
Meanwhile, NATO foreign and defense ministers are also expected to hold a video meeting on Wednesday on Ukraine and Afghanistan, chaired by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and with U.S. defence and foreign ministers present at the military alliance’s headquarters, two diplomats said. Daily Sabah
