Frankfurter Rundschau, 19 April 2025
In this article about the tacit moving of Germany’s position toward talks with the Taleban, from ‘technical’ contacts only to ‘discrete’ contacts about deportations, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted on this aspect and on Qatar’s role in Germany’s first post-Taleban takeover deportation flight to Afghanistan in August 2024, saying that (in German):
Allerdings, so der Afghanistan-Experte Thomas Ruttig, dürfte Katar „für Deutschland hier nicht grenzenlos bereitstehen“ – zum einen, weil auch andere Staaten über Doha abschieben wollen, zum anderen, weil Katar die Taliban beim Bestreben unterstützen könnte, dass Deutschland direkt mit ihnen reden muss.
(However, according to Afghanistan expert Thomas Ruttig, Qatar “is unlikely to be available to Germany here without limits” – firstly because other countries also [likely] want [support for deportations from] Doha, and secondly because Qatar could be willing to support the Taliban in their efforts to ensure that Germany has to talk to them directly.)
Thomas Ruttig, der jahrelang für Deutschland, die EU und die UN in Afghanistan gearbeitet hat, warnt: „Selbst Ein-Punkt-Verhandlungen wie über Abschiebungen normalisieren das Taliban-Regime schrittweise weiter.“ Zudem: Wer mit den Islamisten kooperiere, könne sie an anderer Stelle kaum noch glaubwürdig kritisieren, etwa wegen ihrer „weltweit einmalig frauenfeindlichen Politik“.
(Thomas Ruttig, who worked for Germany, the EU and the UN in Afghanistan for many years, warns: “Even one-point negotiations such as on deportations are gradually normalising the Taliban regime.” Moreover, anyone who cooperates with the Islamists will hardly be able to criticise them credibly elsewhere, for example because of their “globally unique misogynistic policies”.)
Revisions:
This article was last updated on 24 Apr 2025
