The Taliban said attending Istanbul meeting was conditional on the group’s demands being met.
A Taliban spokesman said about their presence at the Istanbul meeting that if group’s demands were met, they would reconsider their decision to attend the meeting.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he might reconsider his position on attending the conference in Istanbul if the group’s demands were met.
Mujahid added: “We will not participate in the Turkish conference under the conditions that they want us to participate.” If our requests and considerations for the meeting are met, we can reconsider our position.
Al-Jazeera television had previously reported, citing a source in the Afghan Supreme National Reconciliation Council, that the conference on Afghanistan in Istanbul had been postponed due to the refusal of Taliban representatives to attend.
Zamir Kabulov, the Russian president’s special envoy to the Russian foreign ministry, also said Moscow hoped the Taliban would finally attend the Istanbul conference on Afghanistan.
Kabulov noted that Moscow was closely following the preparations for the event and that it was clear that differences between all Afghan negotiators were still high.
The Taliban had previously stated that they did not intend to attend the conference until all foreign troops had left Afghanistan. In April, US officials announced a decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan before 9/11, while talks in Qatar had already set a May 1 withdrawal date.
