Turkey, Qatar to discuss management of Afghanistan's five airports with Taliban

Taliban on Thursday said that a joint delegation of Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are negotiating over the management of five airports in Afghanistan. Months after the extremists took over control of the war-ravaged nation, the spokesperson for Taliban-led Ministry of Transportation and Civil Aviation, Imamudin Ahmadi said that Turkish and Qatari delegations will kickstart negotiations with officials and technical teams of the ministry, reported Khaama Press.

The five airports, which will be included in the upcoming discussion, are Kabul International Airport, Kandahar International Airport, Mazar-e-Sharif International Airport, Khost Airport, and Herat Airport. The Taliban government said that it is entirely focused on Afghanistan’s national interests while signing agreements with both Turkish and Qatari delegations to jointly operate the airports. Ahmadi was quoted by Tolo News as saying, “The contract will be about the tower, ground handling and some more technical sections.”

It is to note that NATO-member Turkey managed and protected the Kabul airport for six years until the United States and other forces of the alliance left Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover. Turkey, a close ally of Qatar, has long expressed willingness to continue to run the airport as it is the main gateway from landlocked Afghanistan. It is also a crucial source of humanitarian aid. Qatar is also a key player in relations with the Taliban and it even hosted months of US-Taliban peace talks in Doha. 

International flights to be operational 24 hours

Meanwhile, the ministry has said that once the agreement is signed, international flights from airports in Afghanistan will be operational for 24 hours each day, stated Tolo News. Turkish and Qatari delegations holding talks on airports management came just two days after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevult Cavusoglu announced the same meeting. He had said that both sides would travel to Kabul and meet with authorities over the management of the airports. Cavusoglu had stated that Turkey and Qatar would jointly take responsibility once the agreement is signed.

(IMAGE: AP)