ANKARA, Turkey — A senior Taliban official said Thursday that Afghanistan’s embassy in Ankara continues to operate as usual, despite an earlier statement from embassy staff that it had ceased activities and been handed over to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Zakir Jalali, Taliban’s head of the Asian department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a post on X that the embassy remains functional and continues to provide consular services. He described the replacement and relocation of diplomats as a routine process, adding that Taliban-appointed envoys are now managing the mission.
His remarks came just hours after the Afghan Embassy in Ankara announced that it had formally been placed under the control of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, in accordance with international diplomatic conventions.
Jalali, however, insisted that Afghan citizens could still access consular services at the embassy and reiterated that changes in diplomatic personnel were standard practice in embassies worldwide.
