Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that the Afghan Consulate General in Istanbul was officially handed over to the Taliban regime on Monday.
Zakir Jalali, an advisor to the Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, has said that Gulmat Khan Zadran, who has been introduced as the representative of the group has taken over the consulate in Istanbul on Monday.
Reports emerged on February 22, that the Turkish government was planning to hand over the Afghan consulate in Istanbul to the interim regime of Afghanistan.
Currently, Taliban representatives are present at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Ankara, and they have already dismissed three diplomats of the previous government.
This is the second diplomatic mission of Afghanistan being handed over to the Taliban regime in a week’s time.
On Sunday, the Islamic Regime of Iran officially handed the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran to the Afghan Interim government.
Diplomatic representatives of the Taliban are also present in a number of other Afghan embassies including in Pakistan, China, and Russia.
This comes as no single country has formally recognized the de facto regime of the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
It is worth mentioning that counties including Iran, Pakistan, China, Russia, and Turkey have close ties with the interim government of Afghanistan, and have kept their diplomatic mission operational in Kabul months after the U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan.
Besides lacking international recognition and internal legitimacy, the Taliban-run administration is gradually expanding its presence in Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions in the region.
Meanwhile, many political experts believe that engaging with the de facto regime of Afghanistan is the only viable option available to stand and support the Afghan people during these difficult times. According to them imposing sanctions, or military engagements will further deteriorate the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country.
