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H.E. Abdullah Abdullah Discusses Peace Talks in Afghanistan United States Institute of Peace (Webcast Only) Wednesday, June 24, 2020 Transcript

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H.E. Abdullah Abdullah Discusses Peace Talks in Afghanistan United States Institute of Peace (Webcast Only) Wednesday, June 24, 2020 Transcript Nancy Lindborg: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, depending on where you're viewing this livestream. My name is Nancy Lindborg and I am the president and CEO of the U.S. Institute of Peace. And I know there are viewers joining us from all around the world. We're delighted to have all of you here with us today for a very timely and important discussion. We're honored to have with us His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, who has taken time at this very critical moment in the Afghan peace process to share how he and the High Council for National Reconciliation are preparing for talks with the Taliban. After the keynote address, we'll have a Q&A session moderated by USIP’s Vice President for Asia Dr. Andrew Wilder and we invite you to take part in this event by asking a question through the YouTube livestream in the comments section, and you can also engage with us and with each other on Twitter with today's hashtag #AfghanPeace. At USIP, supporting a sustainable peace process in Afghanistan has been a core priority, and I'm encouraged that in recent months there has been progress towards direct inter-Afghan negotiations. At the same time, violence is rising to unprecedented levels, including increasing and quite disturbing numbers of civilian casualties. And there are other challenges: COVID-19 has exacerbated the struggles that Afghans face, including contributing to increased food insecurity and extreme poverty. But despite these challenges, developments over the past few weeks have created momentum to get the peace process to the essential next phase of inter-Afghan talks. This was facilitated in part by the signing of a political agreement between President Ashraf Ghani and Chairman Abdullah resolving disputes over the 2019 presidential election. So, as part of the agreement, Chairman Abdullah has been appointed chair of the newly established High Council for National Reconciliation, which will oversee the talks with the Taliban as well as Afghanistan's collective efforts on peace. And with reports indicating that preliminary talks between the Islamic Republican of Afghanistan and the Taliban could begin during the coming weeks, today's discussion could not come at a better time. We look forward to hearing Chairman Abdullah share with us how he, the High Council for National Reconciliation and the Afghan negotiating team are preparing for a truly historic moment. Chairman Abdullah Abdullah served as the chief executive of Afghanistan from September 2014 until March 2020. He also served as the first minister of foreign affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2001 to 2005. Prior to the formation of the Islamic Republic, Chairman Abdullah served in many capacities in the government of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, including as foreign minister, and he also served as an advisor to the mujahideen commander, Ahmad Shah Massoud. So, obviously many, many years of experience and so with that, we are delighted to welcome you to this program this morning, this evening. And I'm delighted to invite His Excellency Chairman Abdullah Abdullah to provide his keynote address. Thank you so much, Chairman Abdullah. Chairman Abdullah: Thank you, President Lindborg and USIP, for providing this opportunity. Bismillah alrahman alrahim. I appreciate the efforts by USIP and all our friends across the globe for joining us, this new age we have been on to share some thoughts about the opportunities and challenges for negotiations with the Taliban. I cannot emphasize more on the significance of the opportunity today and now, forty years after the start of the war and conflict in Afghanistan. Allow me first to acknowledge the millions of Afghans who yearn for peace and who deserve to live in peace with honor and with their citizens’ rights guaranteed under the law, after more than forty years of conflict, and to remember and salute the tens of thousands who have fallen or continue to be victims of anti-peace entities and terror groups. I also want to pay tribute to the men and women from across the world, Americans in particular, who paid the ultimate price, either served or are currently serving their nations with honor as part of post 9/11 mission. Twenty years later, there are many lessons to be drawn from the past. Afghans and Americans share a unique history, but our bonds during the last chapter of the Cold War, when Afghans resisted a devastating invasion and then again, in our fight against international terrorism, which continues to this day became stronger. Today, we are taking stock of good and bad of the past forty years or four decades and look at the road ahead. We are at the threshold between a unique opportunity for peace that is being defined as we speak or continuing the war, the cost of war, the agony of war. With this clarity, into the future and given our geography and existing threat assessment, it's not just about Afghanistan. It's also about the stability, connectivity, security from far east to Europe and beyond. The threat of terrorism has receded in some ways but has taken on new forms in other ways. As far as preparations for the talks are concerned, we decided in the summit, the public of Afghanistan together with President Ghani, that we put no pre-conditions for the start of negotiations and our negotiating team is well prepared to start negotiations at any time. With so much negative news around lately, let me start with some positive news that I hope is a sign for more to come. A few hours ago, Gandhara News Service reported that in interviews across the country with recently freed Taliban prisoners and Afghan government soldiers, most have expressed desire to live peacefully with their families. My message to the Taliban is: a few may decide to join other fighters but that’s not the right decision. The collective call of the Afghan people and majority of the Afghans for peace should be embraced by all of us. And both sides now have to remove the remaining obstacles and move towards talks and an intra-Afghan outcome that takes all our realities into account. The current opportunity, why I call it an opportunity because majority of the Afghans are supportive of the peace efforts and also all our partners, led by the United States, but other partners as well, are supportive of the peace process. The character of the opportunity for starting a peace process is historically unique. It's not perfect nor will it be an easy exercise. We need to be realistic about our means, the deep divides, the anger and hurt that needs healing, the political roadblocks, the opportunistic and the spoiler behaviors, as well as expectations and shared interests. A key challenge will be to keep the process inclusive, representative and focused, yet flexible, and always seeking solutions and compromises at each step leading to realistic outcomes that all Afghans can own. The peace dividend also has to be worked out and discussed with all internal and international stakeholders, while we need to make sure that our country is no longer going to be a… the staging for international terrorism. At this stage, we are working on an integrated roadmap that can energize the process and keep us on track by addressing the prerequisite conditions agreed to by various stakeholders. They include: the more obvious goal of releasing the prisoners, which has taken place in the past few days and weeks, and hopefully, it will be completed soon; getting the technicality sorted out to have negotiating team for talks, as I mentioned, our team is ready; maximizing the impact of violence reduction measures and addressing COVID-19 needs true healthcare services; key demands of the Afghan public across frontlines; keeping the region constructively engaged; and preventing spoilers from derailing or stalling the momentum that has been created. Since we all agree that there is no military solution, the current mutually hurting statement is unsustainable given the number of factors at play inside the Afghanistan, in the region, and with other global priorities, like the pandemic or the upcoming American elections, we have no option, but to aim for talks leading to a political settlement that can be owned and embraced by Afghans across the social and political spectrum. Let me clearly say that there is no justification, religious or political, for the staggering loss of Afghan lives across the battlefields, in our villages, towns, cities, in the valleys, deserts, in road checkpoints or in our mosques or even hospitals. Some food for thought from somebody who has been intimately involved with Afghan affairs since its young ages, since my youth, I'm reminded constantly that just Kabul or downtown Kabul or a small elite with specific priorities with whom foreign and government officials usually interact, this is not the whole Afghanistan. That's why I always try to detach myself from any bubble and try to understand the vast and complex reality, the demographic facts, the role of youth, the women, but also large in the small communities, in the villages, across our diverse landscape. If you are to come up with an inclusive and comprehensive peace settlement, we need to talk, listen, negotiate, compromise, and come up with a common implementable and acceptable end state that involves different layers that represent all key sites, including women, youths, and victims of war and is not seen as a threat to any external powers.
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