EU Special Representatives Teri Hakkala and Thomas Nicklasson, together with their counterparts from the five Central Asian states, signed a joint statement at the end of a two-day meeting in Ashgabat on 25-26 May on the situation in Afghanistan.
This was not the first meeting in this format: previous meetings were held in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Brussels (Belgium). Regional discussions on the Afghan question have become relevant since the Islamic Emirate, which formally existed from 1996 to 2001, reappeared on the political map of the world in 2021.
Observers note that less than two years after US President Joe Biden withdrew US personnel from Afghanistan, the Islamic State's position in the country is growing stronger. The Afghan branch of the group wants to restore the borders of medieval Khorasan, which included the territories of present-day Afghanistan, north-eastern Iran and southern Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Participants at the Ashgabat meeting called on the Taliban to prevent the Afghan territory from being used as a safe haven for hosting, planning, training, financing or exporting terrorism and violent extremism to other countries.
"Negative spill-over effects from Afghanistan, such as terrorism, violent extremism, drug trafficking and other illicit crossborder activities, will negatively impact the region. Also, the use of shared natural resources has to take the needs of all neighbours into account."
This 38-million-strong country is home to more than 10 million ethnic Tajiks, more than 3 million Uzbeks and about a million Turkmen. The new government in Kabul is dominated by Pashtuns.
The parties underlined the importance of the establishment of an inclusive and representative government and of upholding civil, political, social economic and cultural rights of all Afghans.
The Taliban have stepped up construction of the Qosh Tepa canal in Balkh province, claiming scarce water from the trans-boundary Amu Darya River.
The Ashgabat statement said the use of shared natural resources has to take the needs of all neighbours into account.
In addition, representatives of the EU and the Central Asian region called on the Taliban to lift all bans on Afghan girls and women restricting their rights to education, work and participation in public life.
The parties noted the importance of favourable conditions for economic activity, the financial and banking sector and the restoration of social-economic infrastructure in Afghanistan being created, which would allow for further assistance by the international community.
The Ashgabat meeting was attended by representatives of the World Bank, which, like other financial institutions of the world, has suspended its operations in Afghanistan pending international recognition of the Islamic Emirate.
The parties reaffirmed their strong commitment to the people of Afghanistan and to seeing Afghanistan develop into a stable, peaceful and prosperous country with long-term prospects for lasting peace.
The neighbouring Central Asian countries at this stage are not only providing feasible humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, but are also trying to integrate the country into major regional economic projects.
Eziz Boyarov, Ashgabat
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