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Germany grants 2,400 visas to Afghan employees, relatives
German authorities said Monday they have granted 2,400 visas so far to Afghans who worked for the country’s military.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Rainer Breul said visas were also granted to their families but that not all of them want to move to Germany immediately, AP reported.
Germany withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan last week after a deployment that lasted nearly 20 years and focused on the north of the country. It had the second-biggest foreign contingent in Afghanistan after the United States.
Breul said procedures have been complicated by the military withdrawal and the closure of Germany’s consulate-general in Mazar-e-Sharif, but said Berlin is trying to work with partners such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Before the military left, 446 local employees and their relatives — a total of 2,250 people — were given travel documents, Defense Ministry spokesman David Helmbold said. At that point, “a relatively small number” of applications remained open, he added.
“Not all of those who received these travel documents wanted to leave straight away,” Helmbold told reporters in Berlin. “There were a number of local (employees) who said, ‘we’d actually like to stay as long as possible in Afghanistan, but we’d like to have the possibility to leave if the security situation escalates.”
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Turkish Airlines to resume flights to Afghanistan from Tuesday
Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Afghanistan tomorrow (Tuesday), officials said on Monday.
The Ministry of Transport said that a Turkish Airlines plane will land in Kabul airport on Tuesday.
“Tomorrow, Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Kabul International Airport. There will be four flights between Kabul and Istanbul per week. This is good news for Afghan travelers. For those Afghans who travel to European countries, they can move easily through Turkey,” said Imamuddin Ahmadi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Transport.
However, the Chamber of Commerce and Investment emphasized that visas should be provided to businessmen and citizens of the country, otherwise companies will benefit the most, not Afghan citizens and businessmen.
“Not a single passenger is allowed, the reason is that they do not issue visas. If the Turks don’t start issuing visas, or the Arabs don’t issue visas, the plane will come for the cargo and there will be little movement of people,” said Khanjan Alokozay, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment.
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Kabir tells UN official IEA will attend Doha meeting if its ‘position is accepted’
In a meeting with Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister said the Islamic Emirate will participate in the third Doha meeting if its “position” is accepted.
He said that Afghanistan is under the complete control of the Islamic Emirate and that the country “has an Emir” and the government is “obeyed”.
According to a statement issued by Mawlavi Abdul Kabir’s office, the deputy prime minister told DiCarlo: “The previous meeting in Doha was incomplete due to some shortcomings of its organizers, and the position of the Islamic Emirate should be accepted in the next meeting so that the delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate in it.”
The Secretary General of the United Nations once expressed regret for the Islamic Emirate’s non-participation in the Doha meeting, but at the same time said that accepting the demands of the Islamic Emirate is equivalent to its recognition.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate is asking the United Nations and other countries to recognize them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Kabir said that the Islamic Emirate has fulfilled all its obligations and “rules over the entire geography of Afghanistan… There is a central government in all of Afghanistan that has an emir and is obeyed.”
The United Nations is expected to hold the third Doha meeting with the participation of special representatives of countries for Afghanistan, but it has not set a date for it yet.
The Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the United Nations meanwhile visited Kabul this week and invited the Islamic Emirate’s officials to participate in the Doha meeting.
According to the deputy prime minister’s office, DiCarlo informed Kabir about the Doha meeting and said that “the Islamic Emirate’s conditions for participating in this meeting are not difficult.”
She expressed hope that a delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate.
She said that representatives of a number of international organizations and countries have been invited to the Doha meeting, including the World Bank.
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UN’s DiCarlo meets with Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah over Doha meeting
Afghanistan’s former president Hamid Karzai, and the country’s former CEO Abdullah Abdullah met with Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs this weekend, regarding the third Doha meeting.
In a statement issued by Karzai’s office, it is stated that during the meeting they emphasized the need to help and support the people of Afghanistan and said that they considered education in Afghanistan essential.
They also emphasized the need for national understanding to achieve peace.
DiCarlo, who is on a trip to Kabul, has already met and discussed numerous issues with a number of officials of the Islamic Emirate.
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