The Taliban, who took control of the country with the US withdrawal, started to take over various embassies and consulates around the world from the representatives of the former regime.
Sources close to the Taliban leaked last week that diplomats of the former regime in the embassies in Iran and Turkey would be dismissed and handed over to the Kabul administration.
Following the leaks, Afghanistan’s embassy in Tehran on Sunday dismissed officials appointed by the former regime, most of whom were opposed to Taliban rule.
The Afghanistan embassy in Tahran was handed over to the foreign ministry of the Taliban-declared Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Fazl Mohammad Haqqani has been appointed as ambassador. The appointment was announced by Hafiz Zia Ahmad, Deputy Spokesperson and Deputy Head of Public Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban administration.
نن په تهران کې د ااا له خوا ټاکل شوي شارژدافیر محترم م فضل محمد حقاني او ورسره ټیم یې په تهران کې د افغانستان د سفارت چارې رسماً ترلاسه کوي.
د دې لپاره چې د سفارت په خدماتو کې خنډ او ځنډ رانشي، د بهرنيو چارو وزارت رهبرۍ پرېکړه وکړه چې نن سهارکابل څخه د مجربو دیپلوماتانو یو...
Sources close to the Taliban leadership had said that after Iran, the Taliban would seize the consulate in Istanbul and the embassy in Ankara in Turkey.
The sources said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan had notified in writing that at least four officials who had opposed the Taliban government and had been assigned to the consulate in Istanbul by the previous regime had been dismissed.
Shadow ambassadors and consuls
As the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan maintained its silence on the appointment to Turkey through official channels, Zakir Jalaly, the foreign ministry official of the Kabul administration, announced in a statement that the IEA has taken over the consulate in Istanbul.
According to Jalaly, the process of establishing a Taliban-affiliated diplomatic presence in Turkey has been completed, and after Tehran, the consulate in Istanbul was handed over to Gulmat Khan Zadran, a diplomat sent by the Taliban Foreign Ministry.
However, according to Taliban sources, Gulmat Khan Zadran has not been appointed as consul general.
The development has also been announced in the Afghan media as the handover of the consulate.
The sources familiar with the issue said that diplomats sent by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will work as shadow ambassadors and consuls in other capitals, including Istanbul. The Taliban government’s efforts to control diplomatic missions controlled by groups affiliated with the former regime continue.
Sources also emphasized that with the appointments, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is trying to establish or develop diplomatic relations through shadow ambassadors and consuls in countries that do not yet recognize it.
