President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday on his Nawruz festival message called on the Taliban to stop violence and said the group has no legitimacy for the ongoing violence.
“Who is giving the legitimacy to (the Taliban) kill of people’s brothers and sisters. Stop it,” Ghani said, calling on Taliban to “come and accept each other.”
“We will achieve peace,” Ghani said, but added that it should be a peace that ends bloodshed in the country and a peace with justice.
“We have the capacity to stand on our own feet, but it needs unity,” he added.
On Sunday, Afghans cross the country especially in Balkh province has begun the new year with traditional Jahenda Bala (flag hoisting) ceremony in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Every year, tens of thousands of people from across the country flock to Mazar-e-Sharif to attend Jahenda Bala ceremony in the Blue Mosque.
Afghan Peace
President Ghani will attend the US-proposed peace conference in Istanbul – that is expected early in April – if the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada attends the event, the Afghan republic’s chief negotiator Masoom Stanekzai said.
The peace conference led by the United Nations will happen on the request of the United States to foster the efforts for achieving a political settlement in Afghanistan.
The conference was proposed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his letter to President Ashraf Ghani and Chairman Abdullah Abdullah this month.
In his letter, Blinken put forth suggestions to the Afghan government to accelerate the peace process, proposals to facilitate discussion between the two sides to form a negotiated settlement and ceasefire, a meeting in Turkey between both sides to finalize a peace agreement, and a revised proposal for a 90-day reduction in violence.
“It depends on who will come from the opponent side, whether Mullah Hibatullah will attend or not,” Stanekzai said.
Referring on the US-proposed peace plan for Afghanistan, Stanekzai said it is not possible to fully apply a foreign plan.
He described the Moscow conference as productive and said he hopes the upcoming event in Turkey will expedite the stalled peace process.
Stanekzai said that there should be a government in Afghanistan in which the people would have the right to vote and freedom of speech.
Another participant of the Moscow meeting, Senate Deputy Speaker Alam Izedyar, said the Taliban rejected the call for a ceasefire in the conference and that the group foresees peace within the structure of their own interests.
“My view is that the Taliban expressed one topic using different tones,” Izedyar said.
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has confirmed that the Istanbul summit will be held in April.
