The US and the Afghan Taliban have made "significant progress" in talks aimed at ending the 17-year-old conflict in Afghanistan, the US envoy has said. In a series of tweets, Zalmay Khalilzad did not give details but said the unprecedented six days of talks in Qatar were "more productive than they have been in the past". He said he was on his way to Kabul to consult Afghan government officials. Earlier, Taliban sources said the two sides had finalised a draft agreement. The deal calls for a withdrawal of foreign forces in return for assurances that al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group will not be allowed to use Afghanistan as a base, the sources said. Mr Khalilzad said talks with the Taliban would continue and that nothing had been finalised. Skip Twitter post by @US4AfghanPeace Report End of Twitter post by @US4AfghanPeace The Taliban has so far refused to hold direct talks with Afghan officials, whom they dismiss as "puppets". They
Erdogan won the Turkish election after an unequal battle, monitors say
An international election watchdog has criticized the conditions under which the Turkish election was fought, saying they were skewed in favor of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Erdogan had benefited from excessive media coverage and raised questions about the transparency of the vote. But it did not find any significant irregularities on election day.
Erdogan, who secured a new five-year term as President on the first round of voting on Sunday, re-enters office with a vast array of new powers at his disposal, following a narrowly-won constitutional referendum last year.
Under the new system, the office of prime minister is abolished, parliament's powers curtailed and the president is accorded wide-ranging executive authority.
Opposition leader Muharrem Ince conceded defeat, and warned that Turkey would suffer from "one-man rule" at the hands of Erdogan.
Read more
Comments
Post a Comment