Germany: FM Maas announces "initial talks" with Taliban

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German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) confirmed the evacuation of about 500 people from Kabul and the start of diplomatic talks with the Taliban, speaking at a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday.

German ambassador Markus Potzel had already landed in Doha and had started talks with Taliban representatives, the foreign minister said.

Maas also told reporters thousands of people had gathered in front of the access points at Kabul airport over a period of days.

By Wednesday, German planes had already flown out of Kabul about 500 people, of whom about 100 were Afghan citizens, via Tashkent in Uzbekistan, an air bridge established jointly with international partners. The planes used were at their capacity, Maas added.

TRANSLATIONS:

SOT, Heiko Maas, German Foreign minister (German): “We have just spoken again in the crisis team with the Federal Government about the current status of the evacuations. I can report from this that conditions around Kabul airport continue to be, in part at least, extraordinarily chaotic. The number of access points is limited. According to our information, hundreds are gathering in front of these gates, sometimes thousands, and there have been repeated outbreaks of violence.” *NO CUTAWAY*

SOT, Heiko Maas, German Foreign minister (German): “Today, the fifth Bundeswehr aircraft flew from Kabul to Tashkent via the established air bridge. Since Sunday, we have flown 500 people out of Kabul and brought them to safety. We want to continue this in quantity in the coming days.” *NO CUTAWAY*

SOT, Heiko Maas, German Foreign minister (German): “As many people as possible will continue to be brought to safety from Afghanistan. Not only us, but also the United States, but also other countries, together we are organising this airlift more and more internationally.” *NO CUTAWAY*

SOT, Heiko Maas, German Foreign minister (German): “For today, we remain dependent on the developing security situation on the ground in order to send two Bundeswehr aircraft to Kabul. We currently have no reliable security assurances that the Taliban will allow Afghan citizens to freely pass through to the Embassy and the airport. Ambassador [Markus] Potzel has meanwhile arrived in Doha. He has already held initial talks, also with representatives of the Taliban.” *NO CUTAWAY*

SOT, Heiko Maas, German Foreign minister (German): “However, we have to assume that this time window is also limited. All the responsible forces on the ground, especially the United States, are trying as hard as possible to make use of this time frame. We are already looking beyond the current evacuation operation. I have already discussed this with the German human rights organisations in the Human Rights Forum.” *NO CUTAWAY*

SOT, Heiko Maas, German Foreign minister (German): “The number of those on the plane has increased over the last five flights to a number of 180, which the planes are not actually designed for, but which will certainly be flown out from Kabul to Tashkent. As such, the planes have a capacity limit. You will not be able to transport more than 200 people. We will always make it depend on the individual case, depending on the situation at the airport.” *NO CUTAWAY*

SOT, Heiko Maas, German Foreign minister (German): “The Afghan nationals were slightly over 100. The number of those who were flown out has become higher and higher, up to 180 in a plane that is actually designed for significantly fewer personnel. This means that we orientate ourselves on the people who are at the airport and who have also passed through the control. We load the aircraft as much as we can and of course we try to fly out as many people as possible on each flight.” *NO CUTAWAY*

#Afghanistan #Taliban #Germany

Video ID: 20210819-001

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