The world we live in is increasingly witnessing inextricable agendas. We find ourselves discussing the events that make us say, "This will not happen anymore". The damage to the agendas that have passed, on the other hand, is the scene of great pain that lasts for years.
year 2001.
Breaking news on all televisions.
Bombing of the twin towers.
The drift of the world into a new chaos environment.
Turning the needle of the bipolar world to the Islamic geography was a harbinger of the still-ongoing war environment. Hundreds of thousands of people would be killed, millions of people would be displaced from their homes.
Afghanistan…
The country, which was occupied first by Soviet Russia and then by the United States, gained the independence it wanted after 20 years of war. Afghanistan was liberated as an Islamic Emirate. Aspiring to remove the wreckage after the war, the Taliban Administration rolled up its sleeves to raise a country whose money was confiscated and whose economy was collapsing from its ashes.
“We love Turkey and Turks very much. We know, they love us too. However, we don't know why. We just love it.”
These words belong to a host that we were guests at midnight on the Kabul - Jalalabad road. We were in Afghanistan recently to participate in the humanitarian aid work of IDDEF in Afghanistan. During our visit, which lasted about fifteen days, we were in various parts of the country. We had the opportunity to observe by experiencing it ourselves. We witnessed these and similar statements in different ways wherever we went.
to tell what we saw; I see it as a performance of our debt to the Afghan people against the ruthless disinformation of the Western press.
After the war, which ended with the Taliban administration's capture of Kabul, Turkey came first among the countries that provided support. Turkey, which played an important role together with Qatar in the activation of the airport, was one of the first countries to send humanitarian aid after the withdrawal of international aid organizations from the region. Firstly, aids arriving by trucks; Tons of humanitarian aid materials reached Afghanistan by turning into a great solidarity with the "Goodness Train" departing from Ankara.
“Our doors are open to the whole world. We especially invite all Muslim countries here.”
The departure of America from the country was the last stake of the oppressor in Afghanistan. While people who did not know what would happen to them jumped the barbed wire and filled the runways, the whole world was watching the people who took shelter on the wheels of the plane that took off and crashed to the ground. The Taliban, who took over the administration peacefully, have established security in the whole country, especially in Kabul. The city continues to live with all its vitality. Soldiers and police stand guard at central places and intersections. There are security checks in place.
We can now see the police vehicles trying to make room for themselves in the traffic in Kabul, where life froze while the military convoy was passing and the vehicles approaching the convoy were fired upon during the occupation period.
The whole city is covered with concrete blocks that are meters high. In Afghanistan, where the suicide bombings did not stop, the occupation forces tried to provide security in this way. The fact that concrete blocks are painted and equipped with concise words brings to mind the poet's line, "A flower bloomed between concrete walls".
“To be in power is to take responsibility, not to be privileged”
The results of years of war environment do not present a heartwarming picture. The new administration has three major problems to overcome:
- Deepening of the economic crisis
- Conflicts between ethnic groups within the country
Increasing US-backed ISIS attacks
Money traffic in the country is carried on through sarrafs. Government officials we interviewed state that they can receive and send money from all over the world through money changers.
There is no conflict in the country other than the danger of ISIS. However, it is feared that the economic crisis will turn into public action. For this reason, agricultural and development projects are started to create employment all over the country.
"Now you can go from Kabul to Herat alone at midnight."
We confirmed this claim made by Minister of Energy and Water Affairs, Mullah Abdullatif Mansur, in Kabul, after a 20-hour car journey from Herat to Kabul. We passed through patched roads, ruined bridges, and vast wastelands. Our passport did not even come out of our pocket.
Truck and truck drivers express their satisfaction with the establishment of this security environment.
Of course, I can't help but mention how hospitable the Afghan people are here. We had to take the 20-hour journey from Herat to Kabul in three days. In every city we stopped, people opened their rooms and hosted them. Despite all the poverty, they put forth their best food.
Millions of people are not starving to death in Afghanistan!
Nobody is freezing cold. We can't imagine that a people who are so hospitable will go to bed full when their neighbor is hungry. While the US was withdrawing, the Western press tried to paint a picture of misery for Afghanistan by putting forward their dirtiest scenarios.
So many children are starving!
They started selling their kidneys!
They're freezing cold!
No matter where in the world, we begin to understand the issues better when we look more carefully at the places where there is starvation propaganda. The most important of these is Afghanistan.
Of course, there is poverty. People are in very difficult conditions. However, no one dies of hunger, friends, I say this emphatically.
MANY THINGS ARE EXPECTED FROM TURKEY
Enes Hakkani, the Deputy Minister of Interior of the Taliban Administration, who used these expressions in our meeting, says that the greatest favor to be done to Afghanistan will be permanent development projects as well as humanitarian aid. Emphasizing that they are aware that despite foreign powers, it will not be possible for Turkey to officially recognize Afghanistan, Hakkani states that they need trained manpower and economic development, and that they expect the help of all Muslim countries, especially Turkey, in this regard.
Afghan people, who are very hardworking, green the arid lands with the solar water pumps they set up on the barren lands. The soil is being worked everywhere. Efforts have also been initiated to direct opium production to the pharmaceutical industry.
In Afghanistan, where the first works of IDDEF's permanent works such as bridges, dams, mosques and madrasas, apart from humanitarian aid, have started, we hope that all institutions and businessmen will also provide permanent services.
During our stay, we witnessed the hope in people's eyes and their love for us. With the hope that the entire Islamic geography will find peace and tranquility...
Bilal Turan