A Taliban spokesperson on Tuesday said that negotiations between the Afghan interim government along with Turkey and Qatar have not stopped after it was announced the Taliban reached a deal allowing an Emirati company to manage three airports in Afghanistan.
Mohammed Naim Wardak from the group's political office told Anadolu Agency (AA) an agreement signed with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) concerned ground operations at the Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat airports and the deal had a contract period of 1 1//2 years.
Wardak said the deal was struck with a UAE company providing services at the airport before the Taliban entered Kabul and it did not include the operation of airports.
The UAE, on the other side, did not immediately acknowledge the deal. Under the deal, the Abu Dhabi-based firm GAAC Solutions would manage the airports. The Taliban held a news conference in Kabul in which they signed the deal with an individual they identified as a managing director for GAAC.
Ghulam Jelani Wafa, the Taliban’s acting deputy transportation and civil aviation minister, signed the accord. Also on hand was Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister, who described the arrangement as renewing an airport ground-handling agreement with the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms home to the long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways.
However, the deal left more questions than answers, particularly as Qatar and Turkey had been negotiating to run the airports. The Taliban had told Daily Sabah in March that Turkey and Qatar were the first choice in regards to the operation of the airport.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry said on Jan. 27 that the delegations from Qatar, Turkey and the interim Taliban government agreed on several issues regarding key issues about how the International Airport of Kabul would be managed and operated.
On the other side, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu had previously indicated that Turkey, Qatar and the UAE could also possibly operate the airport in a trilateral manner.
Responding to Daily Sabah’s question during a press conference to evaluate the year 2021, Çavuşoğlu said: "Before the Taliban took over power, we were leading Kabul airport’s military wing within the scope of NATO. The civilian part was led by a UAE company."
After the Taliban seized control of the country, Turkey offered technical and security assistance to operationalize Kabul's airport. Keeping the airport open after foreign forces handed over control is vital to keeping Afghanistan connected with the world and maintaining an uninterrupted supply of aid for distribution.
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 leaders open.