In search of international recognition and funds for his country, which is going through a serious humanitarian crisis, the taliban said this Monday that their first visit to Europe since they took power was a “success in itself”. The delegation led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi arrived in Norway on Saturday for three days of meetings with members of Afghan civil society and Western diplomats. The Taliban’s dialogue in Oslo prompted protests from the Afghan feminist collective and also from part of Norwegian society.
“The fact that we have come to Norway is a success in itself because we have shared the international stage,” Minister Muttaqi told reporters on Monday, on the sidelines of talks with representatives from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the European Union and Norway. “Of these encounters, we are sure that we will get support in the humanitarian, health and educational sectors in Afghanistan“, he commented.
The discussions revolve around the humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan, where millions of people are threatened by hunger, after the interruption of international aid and with the country hit by several droughts. No state has yet recognized the Taliban government, fundamentalist Islamists who were ousted from power in 2001 but took the reins again in August.
Experts and members of the Afghan diaspora criticized Norway for inviting the Taliban, and many expressed their rejection with demonstrations in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Oslo. Between sadness, disappointment and bewilderment, feminist militants in Afghanistan also openly criticized the negotiations.
“It makes me sad that a country like Norway organizes this summit and makes agreements with terrorists at the table” of negotiations, said Wahida Amiri, a feminist activist who has been demonstrating in Kabul since August. In order not to be in danger in the streets, many women protested against this meeting from their homes in the cities of Kabul, Bamiyan or Mazar-i-Sharif. “Norway invited criminals and terrorists who have no respect for women’s rights or human rights”said a female protester from Bamiyan, who asked not to be identified.
The Taliban claim that they are more moderate than in their previous regime, between 1996 and 2001, but the reality is that many women are excluded from public employment, many schools for girls are closed, and on long journeys women must be accompanied by a man from their family.
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