President Tokayev Suggests Opening an International Hub in Almaty to Help Afghanistan
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has suggested opening in Almaty an international hub of logistics for sending humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan. He announced this idea during the summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) leaders in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
As Tokayev noted, Kazakhstan sees future Afghanistan as a truly independent and united country, which lives in peace with its citizens and neighboring countries.
«In this fateful moment, the world shouldn’t leave behind the multi-ethnic people of Afghanistan, who face unprecedented severities. I believe that with all its power and influence, SCO can and should play a more active role in the peacekeeping process in that country. We can provide the entire region with peace and security if we pursue this goal together. In turn, Kazakhstan has been widening cooperation with regional partners to prevent the spread of destructive ideology, drugs, and uncontrolled migration out of Afghanistan,» he stated.
President Tokayev has also said that Kazakhstan is ready to do whatever it can to help Afghanistan with resolving all urgent humanitarian and economic problems that the country is facing.
On August 16, while at the summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Tokayev expressed fear that the situation in Afghanistan could escalate into a full-scale civil war. He also said that the social and economic sectors had been heading towards a humanitarian crisis.
On August 15, the Taliban movement announced they had seized power and put an end to the war.
On the same day, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev conducted a meeting with military and intelligence officials to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
After three days the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan reported the evacuation of 25 Kazakhstanis out of Afghanistan along with 14 citizens of Kyrgyzstan, one Russian and one Lithuanian.
On August 20, the foreign ministry said that the Kazakhstani embassy had been under protection by Taliban fighters.
