Hamid Karzai came out in favor of such a proposal this past December, and Pakistan has expressed its approval in the report below. This sets the stage for the Taliban to follow the model of Hamas and Hizballah, and to seek legitimacy under the guise of allegedly compartmentalized operations.
It also increases the likelihood of fools' errands of "engagement" (so often a euphemism for doing business with thugs) by willing dupes in the West who hope that by dealing with the side of the group they like -- "just" the political wing, they suppose -- they can bolster it enough to split it off from the one they don't, rather than disastrously lending support and credibility to the whole enterprise.
And in this case, the Taliban would have a forward operating base on Europe's doorstep, so much the worse if Turkey is admitted to the EU. "'Turkey in talks to open Taliban office in Istanbul'," from Reuters, April 15:
ANKARA - Turkey is working to open a political office for the Taliban in Istanbul, a close aide to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying on Friday, the first explicit comments on the plan.
"It's being negotiated right now," Ibrahim Kalin told the Hurriyet daily, adding the office would be located in Turkey's largest city, Istanbul.
Turkey, which has hosted talks aimed at building trust between Pakistan and Afghanistan, has said before that it is open to the establishment of a diplomatic presence for the Taliban to help with talks to end the war in Afghanistan.
A Pakistani official, speaking during a visit by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to Ankara on Thursday, told Reuters Pakistan would back such a plan.
Analysts say that any solution to the Afghan conflict would probably require the support of Pakistan.
The proposal first surfaced during a trilateral summit in December between Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan in Istanbul, in which Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Kabul would welcome any offer by Turkey meant to facilitate talks with the Taliban.
Afghanistan's former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, who leads a council charged with starting peace talks with Taliban-led insurgents, held talks with Turkish government officials in Turkey in February.
But Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister who came second behind Hamid Karzai in Afghan presidential elections in 2009, told Hurriyet that opening an office for the Taliban would help "legalize a terrorist organization"....
The Taliban evil savages are as dangerous as the the Nazis - I bet, that suspected Islamic Trojan horse and Muslim Brotherhood agent, Hussein Obama is behind this! Why don't the idiot Muslim terrorists rebels-lovers France, UK and this Hussein demand for international War Crime convictions for these savage Taliban beasts?
a secular country going to shit
Excuse me, but, we never said "hey, alright, we'll have friendly relations with the political wing of the Third Reich but we'll consider the army to be beyond the pale" or "yeah, the political wing North Korea is fine, but the military are the bad guys". Come on, world, it's all one.
And globally, Obama/Clinton make it easy for Muslim Brotherhood:
"2011 U.S.-Islamic World Forum Held in The U.S.
Many Global Muslim Brotherhood Leaders Attended"
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.9262/pub_detail.asp
Won't the Taliban think that they're being fobbed off with an Istanbul base? Even the Filistin legation is in the capital Ankara.
Time to kick Turkey out of NATO.
The missile shield will be worthless in Turkey as well.
Always enjoy the important news you bring! Could I point out this group and sharia promotion in British Columbia. B.C. Muslim leader say Sharia Law is great!
Small towns are a target of the tayiqqa and the local media and politicians are quickly duped - the result of multicultural brain washing.
Why haven't we killed all the Taliban by now? It's been how many years? How many American lives and how much treasure?
Turkey will talk turkey with Talibans...
Turkey will talk turkey with Talibans...they are so dumb, they can kill any chance to enter the EU that they are so desperate to do. MoSlums the world over are the same... just dumb..
It's secular only on the surface.
Kind of like Hollywood: all those happy, pretty, smiling people are only happy, pretty and smiling on the outside and with the aid of lots of smoke and mirrors.
Turkey must be preparing for some new Muslim Interfaith Outreach programs to get in touch with the Christians in the country.
Turkey is mostly secular in the cities such as Izmir, Antalya, Ankara, it's a lot different in eastern Anatolia. The legal system and constitution remain secular but the AK party has worked hard to undermine secularism. I'm still optimistic that Erdogan may lose the 2011 general election. The AK party never had a majority in the elections but managed to get most of the seats in parliament via the undemocratic 10% vote threshold.
would never have happened in constantinople.
turkey is a farce.
would never have happened in constantinople.
turkey is a farce.
"Ankara, it's a lot different in eastern Anatolia."
"Eastern Anatolia".....
Just 100 years ago this land was called Armenia, now "armenia" is but some 30 000 km2 large mini state that you cant even see on the map.....
Interesting how will Russia and maybe even Germany, France and Brittain be called in just 100 years.....
Imagine if Russian skinheads stopped stabbing Armenians to death, they might find that they have better things to do.
In Arab states, Armenians can live in peace.
In your country, Armenians can get stabbed to death by neo nazis.
_____________________________________________________________
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/politics/details/42440/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1x5godwe8w
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DtZSh1BLnGrk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=FR&hl=fr&v=ANunVKDwd5c
http://www.armeniandiaspora.com/showthread.php?2497-Skinheads-attack-Armenian-boy-in-central-Russian-town
http://www.armeniandiaspora.com/showthread.php?151757-Russian-Skinheads-Accused-Of-Murdering-19-People-Sure-Of-Their-Impun
http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=907
Imagine how many Armenians there would be today if the Turks had not annihilated almost all of them in the early 20th century. That was genocide committed by muslims, one of many over the course of islam's bloody, savage history.
Exactly. A few weeks ago from Horse, it was how Hindus are better off in Oman than in Australia, then today it was first how Jews are safer in Arab countries than in Russia, and now, how Armenians are better off in Arab states than in Russia. No mention by Horsey boy on whether Russians are worse than Turks. Also, while the Russian crimes were being done by skinhead gangs, the persecution by Turkey happened at the behest of their government.
Birds of a feather flock together.
This Taliban office must be something to provide Recep the Arab Erdoclown with knowledge, experience and expertise for "reforms" following the upcoming election which his AKP is expected to win.
And, as some have already asked, why hasn't Erdoganistan been kicked out of NATO yet? I mean, NATO troops are supposed to be fighting that very same Taliban in Afghanistan, aren't they?
And, by the way, speaking of Hamid Karzai's support for such an idea, I wonder if Michael Medved still refers to that two-faced true mahoundian as one of America's most precious and irreplaceable "allies."
Hey horse, your lies are pathetic on your Arabic propaganda! Your beloved savage Arabic culture that is brainwashing non-Arab Muslims by making them crazy including hating non-Muslims, through Islam is disgusting! And your beloved Arabic Mohammed, the creator of Islam who rape, murder and rob non-Arabs especially the Jews, is indeed the son of the Devil! And Islam is Satanic Arabic cult!
In Arab states, Armenians can live in peace.
Peace, Jim, but not as we know it.
Indians are also targeted by skinheads in Russia.
Britian has racist skinheads as well like combat 18 and national front.
Its much safer for Indians to move to Oman.
Oman is mostly Ibadi, not sunni or shia, so they can't be influenced by Salafis or Ayatollahs.
Ibadis allowed Hindu temples to be built in Muscat and several Hindu families still live there-
http://www.google.fr/search?tbm=bks&tbo=1&q=muscat+siege+in+1895+by+various+tribe+of+ibadi+revivalist+hindu
Turkey is not Arab so what am I supposed to say about it? They are just heavily mixed race, not in just blood but in their features as well, they all look different, really confused about their identity (anatolian, turanian, or european?), and take their anger out on minorities in their confusion, they can't represent anyone else in the muslim world.
the only solution is to allow mass immigration of Arabs in Turkey to Arabdize it, to make it more tolerate of Armenians and others.
Syria has a 3.9 fertility rate, much high than turkey, its projected that syria's population could be over 100 million within decades, and Syria is running out of water and resources. Therefore, the recent abolition of visa requirement between turkey and syria is a good thing, it will bring in hordes of Arabs to move into Turkey if turkey's fertility rate continues to decline.
Actually i used the wrong search terms for that link, its going to be bad for your health if you read the text, click on this one linking to the next page instead
http://books.google.fr/books?id=gNu4_uHo7CQC&pg=PA80&dq=muscat+siege+in+1895+by+various+tribe+of+ibadi+revivalist+hindu&hl=fr&ei=HtOpTcBUiN2BB-D27fMF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=hindu%20crematoria&f=false
Hey horsy, I'm sick of your evil Arabic propaganda. Get this into your brainless head - your beloved savage creator of Islam, Mohammed, amidst his savage Arabic culture, has been murdering, robbing and raping including children of non-Arabs, especially of the Jews! Your Arabic Mohammed is an evil beast, as savage as the Nazis - and his god is the Devil!
"Horse" wrote:
Imagine if Russian skinheads stopped stabbing Armenians to death, they might find that they have better things to do.
In Arab states, Armenians can live in peace.
.........................
Armenia is the only state in history that voluntarily put itself under the auspices of the brutal Soviet Union.
Why would they do such a thing? It was not that there were many fervent Armenian communists, and it's not as though by 1920 most could have many illusions about what the Soviet Union was.
It's because they faced *out and out genocide at the hands of the Turks*. They knew that they only way the remnant of remaining Armenians could survive was by putting themselves under the "protection" of one of Turkey's traditional enemies.
I'm sure most Armenians realized that they would face oppression, discrimination, and exploitation at the hands of the communists. When your only other option is state-sponsored, organized murder, though, even this must have looked pretty good...
More:
In your country, Armenians can get stabbed to death by neo nazis.
.........................
What country might that be? I have never heard of a case of an Armenian being stabbed by a neo nazi in the United States. Or do you mean Armenians *theoretically* might be stabbed by neo nazis?
I theoretically might be run over later this afternoon by the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile, too, but I'm not living in fear of such an occurrence.