The President of Turkey Abdullah Gul said “It is not possible to solve the problems in Afghanistan merely with military power, but the hearts of Afghan people should be pleased”. Gul added that the welfare level in Afghanistan should be increased; they should take steps toward public education; and he emphasized that it is very important for Afghanistan to have its own arm by saying “the army should be strengthened and trained”. When it is mentioned that drug smuggling is a big problem, the President Gul said “there should be alternative sources of income instead of narcotic. We have been working on this issue”.
At the end of the summit it is stated “All kinds of terrorism, extremism, and illegal drug trade are all in a relationship with each other and this affects the whole country”. Safe and prosperous Afghanistan is vitally important for the region for peace and stability and it was emphasized that they should “act firmly and in cooperation for the solving of the problems”.
At London-Afghanistan Conference in January 28, Karzai stated that he would ask the Grand Council “Loya Jirga”1 to come together to deal with the peace issue in the country. Taliban was also invited to the conference. Karzai announced that the stability in Afghanistan is also dependent upon its neighbors and he wanted Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to take important roles in bringing peace to Afghanistan.
Karzai’s negotiation plan promises Taliban members who will be unarmed and integrate into the society security and employment, and thus he estimates to minimize Taliban threat. The international community decided to have a 140 million $ fund in order to implement this plan.
In order to make Taliban involve in the peace process, on the eve of the London Conference, The United Nations Security Council expressed that they had removed five senior members of Taliban (Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil, Fazl Mohammad, Shams-Us-Safa, Mohammad Musa, Abdul Hakim) from the blacklist. And Taliban just a day before the London Conference evaluated the conference useless. Taliban sees the solution for Afghanistan problem in releasing all Taliban members from the prisons in the USA, closing the American prisons at Guantanamo, in Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and sending all foreign soldiers from Afghanistan.
It is thought that the administration should pay attention to the suggestions for the negotiation with Taliban. Karzai, first of all should present his negotiation plan with Taliban to global powers, regional powers, and its neighbors and want them to be a part of this peace process and support it. The situation will be more positive when Taliban members and particularly Taliban leaders are removed from the blacklist of The UN Security Council, Taliban leaders who obey their government are safe and employed, Taliban members are released from prisons, the American prisons are closed and/or they are put under Afghanistan authority, Afghanistan comes to a final agreement with its allies on all foreign soldiers’ retreating immediately or on a certain date. Although there will be positive developments considering the suggestions mentioned above, there may be bloody wars in Afghanistan in the following years if the foreign soldiers do not retreat immediately or on a certain date.
1- “Loya Jirga” is a “grand assembly”, a phrase in the Pashto language meaning “grand council”. For centuries the leaders in Afghanistan have assembled Loya Jirgas for choosing new kings, adopting constitutions, and deciding for important national political problems and disputes. Loya Jirga first assembled in Qandahar in 1747 with a great participation. Later it was traditionally composed of old people from tribe leaders and local councils (councils in villages) and were sent to Kabul.
Khalilullah Rasuli, Assistant