The Taliban’s foreign minister and a Taliban delegation to Turkey have visited the Afghan embassy in Ankara for the first time.
A Taliban delegation led by Amir Khan Mottaki has been in Turkey for the past few days.
A source at the Afghan embassy told BBC Pashto that Mr Mottaki and Khairullah Khairkhwa, the Taliban’s information and culture minister, had been summoned by the Afghan ambassador to Ankara.
According to the source, the Afghan embassy in Ankara had opposed the arrival of the Taliban delegation by some diplomats and did not attend the meetings in protest. That is why relations between the Afghan ambassador and other members in Ankara are now strained, according to diplomats.
The source, who did not want to be named, told Afghan diplomats at the meeting that “from now on, the embassy will be run under the direction of the Taliban’s foreign ministry.”
The Taliban have not yet commented on the matter.
Another diplomat in Ankara says a letter signed by Mr Mottaki about a month and a half ago instructed the removal of two diplomats [ceremonial and security] but said they were still in place.
The Taliban delegation also met with other Afghans, including students, at the embassy.
Some diplomats gathered in front of the Afghan embassy in Ankara to protest
The Taliban government maintains close ties with Turkey, and there are reports that Turkey is trying to help the Taliban manage Afghanistan’s airports.
The Taliban have so far handed over embassies in Pakistan, Qatar, China, Iran and Turkey to Taliban diplomats without formally announcing host countries.
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, no country has recognized the Taliban government. The Taliban government is seeking the support of Afghan diplomats stationed at Afghan diplomatic missions and embassies abroad.
Some Afghan diplomats in Europe have admitted to the BBC that the Taliban’s foreign ministry had asked them for lists of spending over the past few months.
According to Afghan diplomats, some embassies have sent lists of their expenses in writing to the Taliban in Kabul but say they have not yet received a response.
Afghan embassies in Kabul are facing an unknown fate after the fall of the republic and some of them have been closed due to lack of funds.
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