The future of Afghanistan, whose independence depens on 'one man policy' (3)

In this article, we will describe the cornerstones of Afghanistan's chronological political history and share with you the story of the emergence of the Taliban Organization.

Chronological Political History of Afghanistan

In 1709, Mirva Hotak declared that he established an independent state called Afghanistan (the homeland of Afghans) under the Khotaki dynasty based in Kandahar.

In 1717, Russian tsar Peter the Great dreamed of conquering India via Afghanistan. Under the command of Prince Alexander Bekovic, his 4,000-strong army was defeated by Mirva Khan's warriors in the Afghan valleys, the Russian invasion was prevented, and Peter vowed not to see Afghanistan in his dreams again.

In 1747, Ahmet Shah Durani overthrew the Hotaki dynasty and established the Durani empire and succeeded in expanding the country's territory.

In 1801, Tsarina Catherine the Great commissioned an army of 20,000 men to invade Afghanistan under the command of her son Paul. However, this army was destroyed before it could even cross the Volga river.

Britain decided to invade Afghanistan in order to keep the incursions coming to India from the north under control. In 1838, he invaded Afghanistan with his forces under the Governor-General of India. Although the Great British Empire had to withdraw from Afghanistan in 1842, it also managed to become a part of the political system in this country. Thus, Afghanistan and Turkestan, of which it is a part, have been on the agenda of imperial centers in Europe as a corridor of conquest opening to India, the "pearl" of the British Empire.

It has been a priority policy for the British to prevent Russia, which has occupied and eliminated the small and weak Khanates in Turkestan, located in the north of Afghanistan since 1863, from accessing India and the regions of British influence in South Asia. Now, Afghanistan-centered geography has started to be seen as the "big game" area for the two empires. Thus, from the middle of the 19th century, stopping the Russian armies on the northern border of Afghanistan became the constant policy of the British.

England, which tried to invade Afghanistan again in 1878, had to leave the country, as in 1842, after the defeats in 1881-1882. On the other hand, the interest of British policy towards the region has not diminished, and other means have been used to realize British ambitions. Since this period, the border arrangements (1887 and 1893) made in line with the Dirvway and then the Durand lines and the changes in the geography of Afghanistan have led to the division of ethnic groups/tribes and the forced communities to live in different countries. This situation has become the most important factor that is doomed to fail the nation-building processes in today's Afghanistan. It has become more difficult for peace and stability to come to Afghanistan, even to Central Asia, let alone the division of the Turkic (Tajik, Uzbek, Hazara and Turkmen) and Persian ethnic communities in the north of the country and the Pashtuns in the south.

While the struggle of the Russians and the British in the geography of Afghanistan continues, Afghan notables; In this period, he sought to get rid of the yoke of the imperial powers, to be independent, to build the Afghan national identity. For example, Cemalettin Afghani, who influenced the New Ottomans with his political thoughts, was one of them. Mahmud Tarzi, the father of Afghan modernization and Afghan nationalism, was an intellectual who lived within the borders of the Ottoman Empire until the age of 35 and acquired his intellectual formation in the New Ottomans and Young Turks. When his cousin Habibullah Khan came to the throne in 1901, he returned to Afghanistan to advise him, founded the Young Afghans movement, and his newspaper assumed the function of the spokesperson of Western modernization in the country. Under the influence of his ideas, King Habibullah followed a modernizing and Westernist program to serve the purpose of modernizing his country during his 18-year rule.

His son Emanullah Khan, who succeeded him in 1919, became a historical figure, who is seen as the Atatürk of Afghanistan. In the same year, with the support of Afghan tribes, he defeated the British in the war he entered and ensured the end of British influence in his country. Emanullah Khan, who married Tarzi's daughter Süreyya, with the contributions of his father-in-law, made in 1923 the first constitution of the country that separates religion and state affairs. The reforms that he tried to implement during his short 10-year rule that lasted until 1929 were seen as almost exactly 'copy' of those in Turkey. (Note 1)

A British visitor to Afghanistan in 1928 was very surprised by what he saw and expressed his surprise as follows: “Afghanistan is becoming a modern state. New roads have been built. Their armies are well trained. They have established excellent schools. The metric system was recently adopted. what is in the center of asia almost a new country has been born – or at least the old country has become metamorphosed.”

Emanullah Khan, who was unable to suppress the uprising in his country against the modernization movements and had to leave Afghanistan in 1929, was replaced by Nadir Khan. Upon his death as a result of assassination in 1933, his son Zahir Khan succeeded him. Zahir Khan took the title of Shah and re-declared the Sharia in the country. He lifted the ban on veils and chadors. He stayed away from harsh reforms and tried to take modernization steps in the fields of education and health. Afghanistan remained neutral in the Second World War and preferred to remain among the non-aligned countries during the Cold War. Zahir Shah declared the 1964 Constitution, which transformed the country into a constitutional democracy in order to open up to the West in the balance policy. Thus, a multi-party system was adopted in the country and free elections were held. Fundamental human rights such as freedom of expression have been guaranteed, and women have been given rights, including the right to vote and be elected.

In 1973, Davut Khan, a former prime minister from the household, carried out a coup d'etat in the country with the support of the pro-Soviet soldiers in the army, ending the 40-year-long Nadir Khan rule. Subsequently, it 'turned towards making reforms' in the country. He abolished the Shah and made a transition to the one-party (Afghanistan Democratic People's Party - PDPA) republican regime. In this period, assassinations against anti-Communist politicians and pressures against mullahs intensified. Clergymen Burhanettin Rabbani and Gulbettin Hikmetyar, who would later become important figures of Afghanistan politics, went to Pakistan at this time and established the famous madrasas in Peshawar and became involved in an organization based on armed struggle to save Afghanistan from the clutches of communism.

In 1978, Davut Khan's rule was ended with the Sèvres coup led by the Afghan Democratic People's Party. Following the 1979 Soviet Red Army invasion, the key to the country was handed over to Babrak Karmal, the former general secretary of the party, who was in exile abroad.

The chaos that the Afghan Communists, acting in cooperation with the Soviets, brought into the country, the war they waged against Islam and the values ​​of Afghan traditional social life, the increasing pressure on the tribes, the moves to change the whole order, such as land reform, triggered counter-revolution movements of Islamic origin. This situation has caused political ruptures within the country and polarization among the tribes. In this environment, the radical religious discourses of Islamists led by Rabbani and Hekmatyar towards the liberation of Afghanistan were met in the country, and the prestige and power of groups such as Hizb-i Islami, which they led, increased throughout Afghanistan. The ideology of the resistance against the Soviets has now become Islam and the jihadist movements that have developed accordingly. Naturally, the USA has been the biggest source of support (including weapons and ammunition) for the Islamist movements that have made their home in Pakistan, where the US has a high influence.

In fact, the United States has long started to act as a 'brother' to the Afghan jihadists. He established the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Omaha in Nebraska, making it an Afghan resistance movement training center for the fight against communism under CIA control, indoctrinating most Afghan leaders in Nebraska (Note 2). With the 1979 Soviet occupation, the USA, which acted with the desire to prevent Afghanistan from entering the communist bloc and to fill the void in the big game in Central Asia; As we mentioned in the political history section, it did not neglect to support the jihadist groups in Afghanistan and to provide money and weapons. It is known that during this period, the USA supported seven Islamist groups through the CIA.

In 1987, the party's general secretary, Muhammed Nejibullah, overthrew Karmal and became the head of state, and succeeded in bringing some stability to the country. Then, in 1989, the Russians, who lost 15,000 during their 10 years of stay in the country, withdrew from Afghanistan. With the withdrawal of the common enemy Soviets, wars broke out between mujahideen groups in the country. When Necibullah resigned in 1992, Burhanettin Rabbani replaced him, but the civil war between the mujahideen for the power struggle in the country continued. By 1996, almost the newest of these groups, the Pashtun-based Taliban organization, founded in Kandahar and operating under the leadership of Mullah Mohammed Omar, succeeded in establishing the Islamic State (or Emirate) of Afghanistan under its own control.

Taliban

Afghanistan and Pakistan; In line with the line drawn by General Durand, we have stated that it has a common border crossing a very long and extremely mountainous terrain with a total length of 2460 kilometers. While there are about 15-16 million Pashtuns living on the Afghan side of the border that "divides" this Pashtun tribe, about 30 million Pashtuns live in Baluchistan province on the Pakistani side. From this common geography, which is known as Pastunistan in historical perspective, since 1994, it has been based on strict religious motifs. An organization called the Taliban, founded by Mullah Omar, whose members were mostly Pashtuns, emerged.

The Taliban, which continued its power in Afghanistan until 2001 under the name of the Taliban Islamic Emirate in 1996, continued to have a say mainly in the southern regions of the country. The Northern Alliance, consisting of Tajik, Uzbek and Turkmen elements in the north, has never fully supported the Taliban. Ethnic mujahideen groups such as Raşit Dostum (Mazar-ı Şerif) of Uzbek origin and Ahmet Shah Mesut (Penşir) of Tajik origin tried to keep the areas under their control against the Taliban. The Taliban occupied Mazar-i-Sharif, where Dostum could not hold, 80 km. Shah Mesud, who inhabited the long Panshir valley and did not allow even the Russians to enter this province, succeeded in defeating the Taliban (Note 3) (Note 4).

The best thing the Taliban administration did in this period, which portrays itself as an outdated religious structure with an extremely oppressive, in a way bigoted and bigoted religion, was the official ban on poppy production and drug trade in Afghanistan. The Taliban succeeded in eliminating opium production completely (99%) by 2001. In addition to the October ban, both drug users and dealers were severely punished, thus providing a temporary deterrent in the fight against drugs in the country.

The USA, which remained the only superpower after the Cold War, increased its interest in Eurasia, the new political, economic, military and energy center of the world. In this respect, the USA, which supports regional groups close to it, has not spared its support to the Taliban, which was initially seen as Pakistan's subcontractor organization, in line with its own interests. During the reign of the Taliban, between October 1995 and August 1998, 125 million dollars of economic resources were poured into the organization.

In return, he wanted to transfer Central Asian and Caspian energy resources to the Indian Ocean via Afghanistan and Pakistan, through the American company Unocal (Union of California) and Centgaz Consortium, and thereby breaking the energy monopoly of the Russian Federation in the region. He saw Mullah Omar, whose words became law in Afghanistan, where the USA operates a mechanism based on the 'one man' fiction, even in the Taliban, as the 'only man' who should be addressed by himself. The United States has focused on the extent to which the current administration serves its own interests rather than how Afghanistan is governed.

On the other hand, the Taliban; During the period of power between 1996-2001, when he started to develop a management approach that did not serve the interests of the USA, he found the Americans against him. As a matter of fact, C. Rocca, the US Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for South Asia, in his meeting with the foreign minister of the Taliban in August 2001, said that the US demands for the energy corridor should be accepted, otherwise Afghanistan would be “one of the bombs”. He could not help himself from expressing that he would be buried under the carpet.

In Afghanistan, which was occupied by the USA on the grounds of 9/11 in 2001, the Taliban were removed from the administration and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which was established under the American leadership, survived for 20 years. During this period, the Taliban, which displayed a successful resistance against the USA and its allies, continued to exist. One of the reasons supporting this is that the Pashtuns have a representation of around 25% in the Pakistani army. Pashtuns, who work in dominant positions within the Pakistan Intelligence Organization (ISI), both make it difficult for Pakistan to fight the Taliban, which is identified with this ethnic group, and constitute the main reason for the Taliban's support from the ISI. Although the Taliban is essentially a Kandahar-based structure, Pakistan has provided training and accommodation support to the members of the organization since its establishment. Between 1996-2001, when the Taliban rule was underway, Pakistan endeavored to turn Afghanistan into a client state that was subordinate to Pakistan economically, politically and militarily in international relations.

As a result, with the withdrawal of the Americans, who agreed with the Taliban on February 29, 2020, the administration again passed to the de facto Taliban as of August 15, 2021.

We will convey our evaluations of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which was re-established after this date, and Afghanistan in general, in our next articles.

Conclusion

The current leader of the Taliban is Hibatullah Akhundzade. of the Taliban; It is known that in accordance with the February 29, 2020 agreement signed with the USA, it is known that other jihadist organizations like ISIS have given guarantees to take action against the West and not to settle in Afghanistan. In return, the key to Afghanistan was handed over to the Taliban. The bombs detonated by ISIS in Kabul on August 27, 2021 caused the death of 13 American soldiers and more than 80 Afghan citizens. The fact that this terrorist act took place despite the Taliban brought about the questioning of the US-Taliban cooperation. In any case, the US has been fighting the Taliban since 2016. It is obvious that he would like to see Mullah Abdulgani Brother, whom he "trained" in Doha and touted as the de facto leader of the Taliban, at the head of Afghanistan, rather than Haybatullah, who is leading the army.

Tomorrow we will continue where we left off. In the fourth of this series on Afghanistan, we will write about the architects of the February 29, 2020 agreement signed between the Taliban and the USA, Mullah Abdulgani Brother, the Head of the Doha Political Office of the Taliban, and Zalmay Halilzad, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan.

References that we used in this article:

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Afghanistan>, p.e.t.25.8.2021.

Ogur Y. (2021). “Afghanistan's 120-year tragic story”, Freedom, haber7, 22 August, <https://www.haber7.com/dunya/haber/3132828-afganistanin-120-yillik-tragic-story>, p.e.t.27.8.2021.

Uslubaş F. (2010). From the Great Game to the Great Chaos, the Taliban and Jihad in Eurasia, Ant Publishing, Ankara

Rauofi N. (2019). “The Role of USA and Iran in Afghanistan Security After 2009”, Master Thesis, Sakarya University Middle East Institute, https://acikerisim.sakarya.edu.tr/bitstream/handle/20.500.12619/69319/T08516.pdf?sequence= 1&isAllowed=y, set25.8.2021.

O'hanlon M. (2016). “Improving Afghanistan Policy”, The Foreign Policy Brief Brookings, Vol. 2, No.1.

Note 1:

It banned the burqa and veil for women, made it compulsory for men to wear jackets, trousers and ties in a country where people had no clothes to wear, changed the holidays from Friday to Thursday, prohibited mullahs from serving in the state, soldiers from going to sects, made diplomas compulsory for mullahs who would teach in schools, switched to the Western metric system, opened schools, made education compulsory, and banned slavery in the country where there were 500,000 slaves. His wife Süreyya also played a leading role, especially in the reforms concerning women.

Note 2:

As a research and education center for the Kurds, Dr. The "Kurdish Institute of Washington", which was founded by Necmettin Kerim in 1996, should also be seen in this sense. Today, this institute carries out important lobbying activities in the capital of the USA on behalf of the Kurds and serves as one of the important media organs of the Kurds in the USA.

Note 3:

The Taliban organization, which emerged in 1994 in Kandahar in the south of Afghanistan, advanced towards Kabul, and the biggest resistance was Shah Massoud, who became famous throughout the country with his successes against the Soviets. The Taliban troops succeeded in seizing the provinces one after the other without using weapons. The groups opposed to the Taliban administration united under the name of the Northern Alliance in 1998 and chose Massoud as their leader. This time the conflicts shifted to the north of the country. When Mazar-i-Sharif was occupied by the Taliban, Shah Massoud retreated to his own region, the Panshir Valley, where he maintained his dominance against the Taliban. Shah Mesud died on September 9, 2001 in the village of Hoca Bahauddin in the Takhar Valley, as a result of the suicide attack of two people with Belgian passports and Moroccan origins who wanted to interview him. On September 5, 2019, at Shah Mesud's tomb in the Penshir Valley, Ahmet Mesud was announced as his father's successor. As the leader of the only armed group that declared in August 2021 that it would stand up to the Taliban, it seems very unlikely to what extent Ahmed Massoud will succeed.

Note 4:

During the resistance against the Soviets, religious-reference mujahideen groups took a stand against Turkmen, Uzbek and Tajiks in the north of Afghanistan. Raşit Dostum of Uzbek origin, who assumed the leadership of these groups of Turkish origin, took over the administration of seven provinces in northern Afghanistan, especially in Mazar-i Sharif, during the time of his cooperation with Najibullah. However, after Najibullah could not find a place for himself in Kabul, he could not hold on against the Taliban. He lived in exile in various countries, including Turkey, for a while. He returned to his country after 2001, but did not have an active role. In addition, he served as the vice president during the presidency of Gani, who won the 2014 elections.