“operational contacts” between France and the Taliban

This is a first since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan almost two weeks ago. On Thursday, a French delegation met representatives of the Taliban in Doha, their spokesperson announced. Suhail Shaheen, on Twitter, Friday August 27.

The French envoy François Richier and his delegation have “Discussed in detail” of the situation at Kabul airport with a delegation led by the deputy director of the Taliban political office, Sher Abbas Stanikzai, the spokesperson said. “Every Afghan in possession of legal documents will be able to travel abroad and appropriate facilities will be provided to all Afghans for their movements after the opening of the civilian part of the airport”, said Suhail Shaheen, repeating a promise already made to several countries.

Contacted by BFM-TV, the Quai d’Orsay confirmed “Operational contacts”.

No recognition at this stage

Asked about Europe 1 before the announcement of contacts with the Taliban, Clément Beaune considered that “Diplomatic life and international relations are sometimes choosing between bad options to defend interests and values ​​as best or as little as bad as possible”. France excludes “Political discussions” and recognition of the Taliban as long as a number of conditions are not met, he recalled, however.

“It is not a question of recognizing the Taliban and all those who think that we have a form of soft Talibanism, I believe, are deluded, he noted. Will there be an Afghan government in a few weeks, a few months that will include other political sensitivities and not just the Taliban? In that case, we could have a certain number of contacts. “

Turkey begins first talks with Taliban

For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that he had “Held [des] first talks with the Taliban, which lasted three and a half hours ”. “If necessary, we will have the opportunity to have such talks again. “ He said the talks took place in a militarized section of Kabul airport, where the Turkish embassy has been temporarily set up.

The Turkish head of state also added that Ankara was studying the proposal of the new masters of Afghanistan to secure the airport in the capital after the American withdrawal. Turkey had considered helping to secure and manage the airport in the Afghan capital, but the country began withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan on Wednesday, hinting that it was abandoning the goal. “The Taliban say: we will provide security, you operate [l’aéroport]. We have not yet taken any decision on this matter ”, said Erdogan. “We will make a decision once calm returns. “