The US Special Representative Thomas West met with Amir Khan Muttaqi on Friday (March 11) during the Antalya Diplomacy Forum March 11-13. They have discussed $3.5 Billion of Afghanistan’s Reserves that are allocated to be granted to families of 9/11 victims by the U.S. government.
Apparently, it is agreed that the respective reserve is should be released by the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, but when and under what criteria would still require discussions and meetings.
Muttaqi has emphasized that the money frozen by the U.S. government was Afghanistan’s assets and that should be delivered to the Central Bank of Afghanistan. The Taliban Acting Minister has further declared that confiscation of Afghanistan’s assets by the U.S. government would change nothing but for sure will negatively effect the diplomatic relationship of Taliban and US.
Since August 2021, Turkey has been playing an active catalyst’s role. Hosting Antalya’s summit is part of the strategic move and relationship that Turkey has been able to maintain with Taliban so far. A high-ranking delegation of Taliban team has been accompanying Mr. Muttaqi in this summit.
