TEHRAN - Through the proposal to establish a Taliban political office in Turkey, NATO is trying to destabilize the region, a former Afghan MP said on Wednesday.

“For decades, the Taliban has been seeking to gain recognition as a political entity from NATO member countries, and permitting them to establish a political office in Turkey is exactly what they have been striving for,” Mir Ahmad Juyandeh said in an interview with the Fars News Agency conducted in Kabul.
“As an Islamic and modern state, and also as an important member of NATO, Turkey can play a very important role in the Afghan peace process,” he added.
Juyandeh stated, “NATO wants to extend fundamentalism to other countries of the region, and giving the Taliban the privilege of establishing a political office is another part of NATO’s comprehensive plan to destabilize Islamic countries.”
Commenting on the Taliban’s current situation in Afghanistan, the political analyst said, “Any official political activity by the Taliban could harm the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan because it would give them the opportunity to propagate their ideology and to undermine the efforts made by the Afghan administration, people, and parliament.”
Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, originally made the proposal to establish Taliban political offices in various countries, such as Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkmenistan.
The proposal was recently discussed on the sidelines of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) meeting in Ankara.
It has also been reported that the United States and some other NATO members are putting pressure on Turkish and Afghan officials to accept the idea.