The government of Kazakhstan is going to exclude the Taliban from its list of prohibited organizations. The move is justified by the fact that the UN Security Council does not view this movement as a terrorist organization, according to the Kazinform news agency, citing Aibek Smadiyarov, the official spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan.
What happened? The country’s MFA said that Kazakhstan is excluding the Taliban movement from the national list of terrorist organizations prohibited in Kazakhstan. The decision is justified by the fact that the UN Security Council doesn’t consider the Taliban a terrorist organization.
How is Kazakhstan going to develop its relations with the Taliban? Smadiyarov refused to provide robust answers about Kazakhstan’s diplomatic relations with the Taliban. He said that the country is going to support its political contacts with the movement based on decisions and resolutions of the UN.
«Concerning our political contacts, I’d like to emphasize that Kazakhstan will continue to comply with decisions and resolutions by the UN Security Council and General Assembly,» Smadiyarov said.
The official also noted that since 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, it has been trying to «establish diplomatic relations with various countries, including Kazakhstan and improve its public image.» According to Smadiyarov, the Taliban is «very active in developing their trade with neighbors.»
The context. In 2005, the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan declared the Taliban movement a terrorist organization and prohibited its activities within the county’s territory. The Taliban is also prohibited in other Collective Security Treaty Organization member states: Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
In August 2021, when Afghani President Ashraf Ghani left the country and the Taliban took over the country, Kazakhstan’s MFA said that «even though the country doesn’t acknowledge the Taliban, it continues to keep an eye on the situation in Afghanistan.»
In April 2023, Kazakhstan gave its consent to representatives of the Taliban to occupy the Afghani embassy in Astana. At the time, the MFA said that the country was complying with the official stance of the UN and did not proceed with intensifying contacts with the Taliban. Kazakhstan was going to focus on economic relations and provide humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan.
In August 2023, the MFA announced that Kazakhstan wouldn’t change the status of the Taliban movement as a prohibited organization.
