Türkiye’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Cenk Ünal, has invited Taliban Commerce Minister Nooruddin Azizi to attend the Fifth Meeting of Trade Ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Istanbul.
According to a statement from the Taliban’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce issued
on Sunday Ambassador Ünal also invited Azizi to participate in the Halal Expo 2025, which will take place in Istanbul from 27 to 30 November, following the ECO meeting.
The Fifth ECO Trade Ministers’ Meeting is scheduled for 24–26 November in Istanbul. The Taliban said the meeting between Ünal and Azizi also focused on expanding bilateral trade, facilitating transit, and attracting foreign investment to Afghanistan.
The 17th ECO Summit of Heads of State was held on 3–4 July in Azerbaijan, where Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, represented Afghanistan and urged that the next summit the 18th ECO meeting be held in Kabul. He said the Taliban were fully prepared to host the gathering.
The ECO member states include Iran, Pakistan, Türkiye, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
The Taliban’s announcement of the invitation comes as several regional organisations of which Afghanistan is a member have so far declined to invite Taliban representatives to their meetings.
Last year’s ECO Council of Foreign Ministers’ expert-level meeting in Mashhad, Iran, was held without Taliban participation. At the time, an Iranian official said the decision not to invite the group had been made by the organisation’s secretariat.
