Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai stands as one of the few politicians of the republic era who remained in Kabul following the fall of the country to the Taliban. During this period of more than two years and three months, he has rarely appeared in the media. Probably, he was not allowed to surface in the media because of the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on him, making him cautious about his positions. Although the Taliban did not treat Karzai like former Afghan President Najibullah Ahmadzai, they deprived him of many freedoms like all the people of Afghanistan. Maybe the restrictions imposed on him are more than what is imposed on ordinary people. During the past two years, if any news was published about Karzai, it was about his meetings with Abdullah Abdullah the former Chief Executive of Afghanistan, or some other Kabul-based politicians and human rights defenders. Commonly, news of those meetings is disseminated on his pages on social networks, which mostly emphasize the reopening of girls’ schools. However, Karzai recently gave an interview to a Japanese media where he stated some provocative words. In this conversation, he touched on several issues, but perhaps the most important part of his speech is that the world should not remove the Taliban from power by force. Nonetheless, why did Karzai return to the media headlines after two years and three months and adopt such a position?
Karzai’s statement that “the world should not remove the Taliban from power by force” has been interpreted as support for the Taliban. By constant dissemination of news about this conversation and bolding the same statement, many users on social networks called Karzai a supporter of the Taliban group, subjecting him to severe criticism. Although this conversation holds different parts, even if we take this sentence into account, it can be interpreted optimistically, indicating that Karzai wants the issue of power in Afghanistan to be resolved through dialogue, not by force of arms. In a part of this interview, he mentioned intra-Afghan dialogue as the only solution to the power issue in the country. However, the timing of his interview with a Japanese media outlet suggests that Karzai did not take this position without consulting the Taliban. Karzai, who was criticized for calling the Taliban “brothers” during his rule, was against the night operations of foreign forces against the Taliban. When this type of operation against the Taliban was stopped by his pressures and reactions, this group became more powerful. Additionally, when he was the president, the government and some high-ranking military officials were accused of supporting the Taliban. It was common among the security forces, especially the national army, that when they arrested Taliban fighters from the hot battlefield, most of them were released without trial and within days or even hours.
The history of the government under the leadership of Karzai in dealing with the Taliban and their prisoners has strengthened the suspicion that Karzai’s recent statements are aimed at normalizing the Taliban and supporting this group. Choosing a Japanese media for an interview can also be one of the reasons why Karzai has taken this position in consultation with the Taliban. Japan remains one of the few countries that has reopened its embassy in Kabul. Last year, the Foreign Minister of Japan announced the opening of the embassy of this country in Kabul with limited activities. At the same time, Japan’s ambassador to Kabul Takashi Okada, in a meeting with Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s Political Deputy Prime Minister, said that his country wants “reforms”, but will not impose its opinion on Afghanistan. Karzai adopted a similar position in his recent interview. In addition to opposing the withdrawal of the Taliban from the path of armed conflict, he has also emphasized reforms in the Taliban regime. Therefore, choosing a Japanese media and opposing the fall of the Taliban regime reveals that Karzai consulted with the Taliban.
The time of this interview also holds importance as it has been held simultaneous with a surge in the attacks of the anti-Taliban fronts and the commencement of global efforts to address the power issue in Afghanistan. The report of the UN envoy, Feridun Sinirlioğlu, on the situation in Afghanistan has just been published, in which a future roadmap has also been defined. The visits of anti-Taliban politicians abroad and their meetings with the officials of some powerful countries have also accelerated recently. Probably, in the road map defined by the UN Special Envoy for the future of Afghanistan, the role of Karzai is also considered. These negotiations may indicate the beginning of Karzai’s return to the media headlines.
Despite many users on social networks criticizing Karzai for this stance and calling him a supporter of the Taliban, it does not appear that his preference is the Taliban regime. If his preference was the Taliban regime, he would not have talked about reforms and the future political structure. The Taliban regime is characterized by issues without which it cannot maintain its identity. The Taliban regime is featured by issues such as opposing modern education, hindering women’s education and work, imposing restrictions on the movement of people, especially women, removing non-Pashtun ethnic groups from the power structure, canceling freedoms, bullying, drugs, killing, torture, field trials, ethnic-religious discrimination, and hostility to Persian language and others. If Karzai’s desired reforms lead to the removal of these characteristics of the Taliban rule, the Taliban regime will be assumed to be overthrown.
On the other hand, this dialogue has numerous sections where the necessity of the presence of all ethnicities and identities in the power structure and the formation of a strong central government that gives more powers to local administrations is pointed out. However, even if his preference is not the Taliban regime, it is not a structure in which the opinion of the Afghan people is taken into account. Karzai behaves like a Khan. When he takes a position on the future of Afghanistan, he does not value the people, just as he did not value the people and their aspirations during his rule. Karzai wants the issue of power to be resolved among Afghanistan’s political elites, and ordinary people should refrain from expressing their opinions and exercising their will in it. In this interview, he calls the solution to the Afghanistan problem an intra-Afghan dialogue, which can determine the nature of the future structure. In his statement, there was no mention of the “right” of the people to choose the type of government in the country and the necessity of holding a poll about the future political structure. While a portion of the Afghan people want a federal system, he opposes it, indicating what people want is not important in his opinion. He does not even allow these opinions to be raised.
Despite emphasizing on the intra-Afghan dialogue, Karzai did not say what the Taliban will come up with to return to the negotiation table. When the Afghan government collapsed, they left the table and never returned to the dialogue. Political structures and parties formed outside the country, including the Resistance Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, have emphasized dialogue with the Taliban as their main position, but they have frequently been ignored by the Taliban. Even the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan led by Ahmad Massoud, which is currently engaged in practical war with the Taliban, came forward to negotiate with this group. However, because the Taliban have been victorious in the field, they do not agree to negotiate with the weak side. The Taliban do not see the need to talk with their opponents, deeming that they are the absolute power and none of these groups and parties can create a serious challenge for them. On the other hand, the Taliban are totalitarian and they are cognizant that one of the requirements of dialogue is to accept power sharing. Now that for more than two years, the voice of the rest of the Afghan politicians to start a dialogue with the Taliban has not been responded to, neither will Karzai’s voice, unless the situation outside the country has changed seriously.
It appears that the situation outside the country is sluggishly changing and is no longer to the Taliban’s aspiration. The activation of the United Nations and defining a road map for the future of Afghanistan reveals that the world has understood the necessity of passing the Taliban regime. The invitation of Taliban opponents by Russia – a country that is accused of supporting the Taliban and has had close relations with this group for the past two years – could signal another change in the situation outside the country. Governments know that communicating with the Taliban and recognizing this group costs them gravely. Therefore, not even one country has recognized this group within the past two years and three months. When the Minister of Health of the Netherlands took a photo with a Taliban official, he had to apologize to the people of his country for his action and express his regret. The Taliban regime is not a patch to be attached to the body of the international community. The fate of such a regime is the isolation it endures. Therefore, if Karzai has conducted this conversation in consultation with the Taliban, it means that the Taliban have also understood the change in conditions, embracing the change.
