Afghanistan: summit to move peace process forward in Istanbul
US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman, January 22, 2012, in Kabul.
Reuters / Mohammad Ismail
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3 min
After Moscow, the United States' special envoy for peace in Afghanistan is in Turkey where he is continuing his tour to speed up the peace talks in Afghanistan.
Turkey will host a summit devoted to the peace process in Afghanistan in early April and hopes to give new impetus to the negotiations.
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With our correspondent in Kabul,
Sonia Ghezali
After Moscow
, it's Istanbul's turn.
The upcoming meeting in Turkey on peace in Afghanistan is seen as an opportunity to breathe new life into the peace talks between the Afghan authorities and the Taliban.
Turkey, a NATO member and
Afghanistan's
economic partner
,
hopes to play a role in speeding up the negotiations, which have been difficult since they began last September.
And there is urgency.
Because there are only 5 weeks left before the deadline of May 1st.
The
United States
has pledged
to leave Afghanistan by May 1
as part of the agreement signed with the Taliban on February 29, 2020 in Doha, Qatar.
In return, the Taliban pledged to no longer attack American and NATO soldiers and to participate in inter-Afghan peace negotiations.
But these are at a standstill.
9,600 foreign soldiers in Afghanistan
But the United States has yet to decide whether to maintain its troops or withdraw, as the agreement requires.
For their part, the Taliban warned on Friday March 26 that they would resume fighting against foreign forces if they continued their mission beyond that date.
There are still 9,600 foreign troops in Afghanistan today.
Among them, 2,500 are Americans.
While no attacks have been directed against foreign forces since the Doha agreement, those against government forces and employees have intensified.
A campaign of targeted assassinations targeting civil society activists as well as journalists has also been sowing terror in the country for several months.
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See also: The US Secretary of Defense on a surprise visit to Afghanistan
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