World News | Merkel Speaks with Erdogan, Discusses Afghanistan's Situation

Berlin [Germany], August 22 (ANI): German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed the rapidly developing situation in Afghanistan. They both agreed to cooperate on assisting the work of international humanitarian organizations in the country.

"Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke today with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the situation in Afghanistan. Chancellor and President Erdogan agreed that the evacuation of people in need of protection from Afghanistan remains a top priority. They also agreed to work closely to support the work of international organizations, in particular, the UN Refugee Agency, in Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries," Sputnik quoted the official statement by the German Cabinet.

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Afghanistan is witnessing a humanitarian crisis after the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government and the country's takeover by the Taliban. Since Sunday, chaotic scenes have emerged from Kabul where people can be seen rushing to the airport to flee the nation.

Germany is set to provide 10 million euros for a program to support people in Afghanistan. The German Foreign Ministry will provide monetary aid for a program to support people in Afghanistan.

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"We are looking into the period after the evacuation, I spoke about this with representatives of German human rights organizations... These days, many representatives of NGOs, science and culture addressed us. In recent years, they have maintained a close partnership with civil society (in Afghanistan) which they would like to continue to support," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had said.

Merkel on Monday had described the Taliban's Afghanistan takeover as "bitter, dramatic and terrible". During a public address, Merkel had said, "This is a particularly bitter development. Bitter, dramatic and terrible...it is terrible for the millions of Afghans who have worked for the freedom of a society."

The Taliban takeover has forced thousands of Afghans to seek escape from the country for fear of reprisals from the terrorist group. Meanwhile, Germany has been engaging with several countries to coordinate evacuation efforts from Afghanistan.

"Close cooperation with our international and regional partners is of the essence to coordinate #evacuations. @HeikoMaas spoke with his counterparts from Pakistan @SMQureshiPTI, India @DrSJaishankar and Tajikistan. Need to continue evacuation efforts for as long as possible," the German foreign office tweeted on Saturday. (ANI)

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