Author: Dabaghian Diana

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) held talks with the Taliban to run the Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport, going up against Gulf rival Qatar in a diplomatic tussle for influence with Afghanistan’s new rulers, according to four sources with knowledge of the matter.

UAE officials have held a series of discussions with the group in recent weeks to discuss operating the airport that serves as landlocked Afghanistan’s main air link to the world, the foreign diplomats based in the Gulf region told Reuters.

The talks demonstrate how countries are seeking to assert their influence in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan even as the group largely remains an international pariah and its government not formally recognized by any country.

The Emiratis are keen to counter diplomatic clout enjoyed there by Qatar, according to the sources who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The Qataris have been helping run the Kabul airport along with Turkey after playing a major role in evacuation efforts following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal in August, and have said they are willing to take over the operations. Yet the Taliban has not yet formalized an arrangement with Qatar, the four diplomats said.

Speaking to Turkish Parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee earlier in November, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar stated that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) has undertaken important duties in Afghanistan and that, in accordance with the United Nations and NATO resolutions, approximately 20,000 personnel have been working in Afghanistan since 2002 within the body of the TSK.

“After the U.S. and NATO’s decision to leave Afghanistan, in the last period that developed faster than expected and the conditions became more difficult, the evacuation decision was taken and the process was successfully completed in less than 48 hours as planned,” he said. “As Turkey, we will continue to closely follow the developments in the region from now on,” Akar added.

After the Taliban seized control of the country, Turkey offered technical and security assistance at the airport. Keeping the airport open after foreign forces handed over control is vital not just for Afghanistan to stay connected to the world but to maintain aid supplies and operations.

Turkey has been working with Qatar to reopen the airport in the Afghan capital for international travel. However, repairs are needed before commercial flights can resume. The Turkish government has taken a pragmatic approach to the recent events in Afghanistan. Underlining that new realities have emerged in Afghanistan, Ankara said it would move forward accordingly while keeping communication with all relevant actors open.

A senior Emirati foreign ministry official said the UAE, which previously ran Kabul airport during the U.S.-backed Afghan republic, “remains committed to continuing to assist in operating” it to ensure humanitarian access and safe passage. Abu Dhabi also aided recent evacuation efforts.

The Taliban and Qatari authorities did not respond to requests for comment. Two of the diplomats said the Taliban has also sought financial assistance from the UAE, though they added it was not clear if this was related to the airport discussions.

The Emirati foreign ministry official, Salem Al Zaabi, director of international security cooperation, did not respond to a question on whether the UAE was considering providing financial help to the Taliban.

One key issue that’s still to be resolved between the Taliban and potential airport operators is who would provide security at the site, the four diplomats said. The Taliban say they do not want foreign forces in the country following their return to power after two decades of war.

Still, Qatari special forces are presently providing security within the airport’s perimeter, the diplomats added, while Taliban special forces were patrolling areas outside.

So far countries have been reluctant to formally recognize the Taliban’s government, accusing the group of backtracking on pledges to uphold the rights of women and minorities.

Yet Qatari officials have urged greater international engagement with the Taliban to prevent impoverished Afghanistan from falling into a humanitarian crisis. Gulf states have also voiced concern that the U.S. withdrawal would allow the al-Qaida group to regain a foothold in Afghanistan.

While there is little commercial benefit for any operator, the airport would provide a much-needed source of intelligence on movements in and out of the country, according to the four diplomats, who said that since the withdrawal many countries have lacked real-time information.

Qatar and the UAE have had strained relations for years as they competed for regional influence.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and their allies boycotted Qatar for over three years, cutting off political, trade and transport ties, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism – a charge that it denies. The dispute was resolved in January this year.

Qatar has long been the gateway to the Taliban, with Doha hosting the group’s political office since 2013 and negotiations with the U.S. in early 2020 that led to the withdrawal.

Last week, Qatari officials strengthened their position by signing an accord to represent American diplomatic interests in Afghanistan.

The UAE has maintained ties with the Taliban too, according to two of the diplomats. They said the country had been home to some members of the group in recent years, including Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, who they added lived in the Sharjah emirate with his family from at least 2013. Stanikzai is now deputy foreign minister in the Taliban administration.

Al Zaabi did not respond to questions on the UAE’s relationship with Stanikzai. The Taliban did not immediately respond to queries on Stanikzai living in the UAE.

The Taliban said this month that the UAE had reopened its embassy in Kabul. The UAE has not commented.

By Mark Dovich

Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a Russia-brokered ceasefire Tuesday evening, ending the deadliest single outbreak of fighting between the two countries since the end of last year’s war in and around Karabakh.

Tuesday’s clashes left at least 15 Armenian soldiers dead, 12 captured, and four wounded, according to Armenian government sources, which also said that Armenia lost two combat positions near the border.

“Under the mediation of the Russian side, an agreement was reached to cease fire at Armenia’s eastern border,” said the Armenian Defense Ministry in a statement. “The situation has relatively stabilized.”

The Azerbaijani government has neither confirmed the ceasefire nor provided a number of casualties. The Armenian Defense Ministry said that Azerbaijan suffered “heavy losses” in the course of Tuesday’s fighting.

Additionally, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Tuesday evening that Azerbaijani forces now control 41 square kilometers of Armenian territory.

Each side has accused the other of provoking Tuesday’s clashes.

Armenian government sources said that Azerbaijani forces crossed into Armenia near Sev Lake in the southern Syunik region, while the Azerbaijani government said the fighting took place mainly in Kalbajar and Lachin, two areas that Armenia handed over to Azerbaijan as part of last year’s ceasefire agreement. (Armenians also refer to Kalbajar as Karvachar.)

In a statement, the Armenian Foreign Ministry drew attention to the ongoing presence of Azerbaijani troops near Sev Lake, where they have been stationed since May.

“This attack is a continuation of the consistent policy of the Azerbaijani side to occupy the territories of the Republic of Armenia, which began…with the infiltration of the Azerbaijani armed forces into the Syunik and Gegharkunik regions,” the statement said.

Renewed fighting comes amid breakdown of negotiations, rising tensions, and periodic clashes

The fighting followed days of rising tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Most recently, Azerbaijan set up additional border checkpoints along a key Armenian road that it partially controls.

The Goris-Kapan highway, built in Soviet times, runs along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and crosses it several times due to the region’s difficult, mountainous geography. It is of crucial importance for Armenia’s security and economy because it provides an overland connection to Iran, a key strategic partner.

Azerbaijan has previously closed off parts of the road to Iranian truckers, sparking a crisis in Azerbaijani-Iranian relations.

On Sunday Azerbaijani soldiers advanced into Armenian territory and surrounded four Armenian military posts, according to Armenia’s National Security Council. The Azerbaijani troops reportedly retreated without incident following negotiations. The Armenian government has not stated exactly where Sunday’s incident took place.

Although last year’s ceasefire agreement ended wide-scale hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan, tensions remain extremely high, and clashes continue to break out periodically.

Tuesday’s fighting also comes just after the two sides marked the one year anniversary of the end of last year’s war, which left over 6,000 people dead, thousands more injured, and tens of thousands displaced.

Armenia and Azerbaijan were rumored to be preparing to mark the one year anniversary of the war’s end earlier this month by meeting in Russia to sign two key agreements on borders and transport connections.

That meeting did not take place, apparently as a result of negotiations breaking down. Regional media outlets have reported that the biggest sticking point has been the issue of control over future transport connections linking Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The 2020 ceasefire agreement signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia stipulates that “all economic and transport connections shall be unblocked,” including an overland connection between the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan (also known as Nakhijevan in Armenia) and mainland Azerbaijan via Syunik.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly referred to such a connection as a “corridor,” suggesting that the route would be under Azerbaijani control. The Armenian government, in turn, has consistently pushed back against Azerbaijan’s demands for control over the connection.

Armenia reaches out to close ally Russia

According to reports by Russian news agencies, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Pashinyan on Tuesday to discuss the situation along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

In a terse statement posted on the Kremlin website, the Russian government said Putin and Pashinyan agreed to “continue contacts.”

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also called his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts on Tuesday to urge de-escalation, Russian media reported.

Earlier that day, the Armenian Foreign Ministry called on the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization to intervene and help “remove Azerbaijani armed forces” from Armenian territory.

The CSTO is a mutual defense alliance founded in 1994 by Russia, Armenia, and four other post-Soviet states: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The organization’s founding treaty commits signatories to “immediately launch the mechanism of joint consultations” when a member state is faced with a “menace to safety, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

“We are addressing Russia with a call for protecting the territorial integrity of Armenia. A written request is being prepared,” said Armen Grigoryan, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council. So far, Russia has not publicly responded to the request.

But Stanislav Zas, the head of the CSTO, has previously said that Azerbaijan’s incursions several kilometers deep into the Armenian regions of Gegharkunik and Syunik in May do not fall under the CSTO charter on collective defense.

Russia is Armenia’s main ally and partner on the international stage and deployed about 2,000 peacekeepers to areas in and around Karabakh under the terms of last year’s Armenia-Azerbaijan ceasefire agreement.

Russia also controls a military base in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city, and maintains an armed presence along much of Armenia’s borders.

Pashinyan appoints new defense minister

On Monday, just a day before the clashes broke out, Pashinyan announced that he was appointing Suren Papikyan as Armenia’s new defense minister, dismissing Arshak Karapetyan, who had held the position since August.

In a speech to the Security Council, Pashinyan said that “this decision was made as a result of analyzing the developments taking place since yesterday,” referring to Sunday’s incident, when Azerbaijani troops surrounded Armenian military posts.

“The situation led me to a decision that there should be a change of the Minister of Defense,” Pashinyan added.

Papikyan is seen as a close ally of Pashinyan and previously served as the head of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, but has no military experience.

Analyst Benyamin Poghosyan raised the issue of Papikyan’s appointment in a recent column for CivilNet, questioning the timing and motivation behind Pashinyan’s decision. “The reasons for the minister’s dismissal are not clear,” he said.

Poghosyan, who serves as the chairman of the Yerevan-based Center for Political and Strategic Studies, also argued that contradictory messaging from the Security Council and Defense Ministry “continues the policy of providing false information to the public, which was widespread in 2020 during the Artsakh war.”

“This practice directly undermines public confidence in official information,” he said.

“The events that took place in Armenia during the last 30 hours once again raised a number of unanswered questions for the society.”