Taliban

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on April 11 spoke by phone with his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Hanif Atmar, said Turkish diplomatic sources.

Çavuşoğlu and Mohammad Hanif Atmar discussed the Afghan peace process, according to the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The Turkish foreign minister on March 30 welcomed peace negotiations between the representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar.

"Intra-Afghan negotiations have raised hopes to achieve lasting peace," said Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu at the 9th Ministerial Meeting of Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process, in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.

Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin on March 27 received U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and his accompanying delegation at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul.

During the meeting, recent developments in Afghanistan and the details of Afghan peace talks that Turkey plans to host in Istanbul were discussed.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, on his first visit to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief, said on March 21 that the Biden administration wants to see "a responsible end" to America's longest war, but the level of violence must decrease for "fruitful" diplomacy to have a chance.

Hailing "valuable and trusted friend" Turkey for its willingness to host peace talks, Afghanistan on March 14 said the meeting could prove to be a vital step forward in the quest for stability in the war-weary country.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Afghan counterpart Hanif Atmar spoke about the Afghan peace process over the phone on March 13, according to diplomatic sources.

The two discussed a meeting on the peace process set to be held in Istanbul on April, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Turkey and Egypt have started diplomatic-level contacts after years-long hiatus with disruption of relations in 2013, according to the Turkish foreign minister.

"We have contacts both at the level of intelligence and foreign ministries with Egypt. Diplomatic-level contacts have started," Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency and TRT.

Turkey is ready to take part in mediation efforts for peace in Afghanistan and the region, the country's ruling party spokesman said on March 9. 

"Afghanistan is a very important country for us," Ömer Çelik, spokesman for the AKP, told reporters in the capital Ankara after a meeting of the party's Central Executive Board.

In a bid to accelerate the stalled peace process, a meeting between the Afghan government representatives and the Taliban would be arranged in Turkey, according to a letter leaked by Afghanistan's Tolo News on March 7. 

The letter was sent by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, revealed in the leaked letter.

Marking Human Rights Day, the Embassy of Switzerland in Greece and Flux Laboratory Athens, in partnership with the Human Rights Film Festival Zurich 2020 and Greek streaming platform Cinobo, present "The Swallows of Kabul." The animated drama is an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Algerian writer Yasmina Khadra, and is a heartbreaking tale about a pair of star-crossed lovers in Taliban-o