Germany has condemned the participation of a Taliban official in a ceremony at a mosque in Cologne on Monday, while the interior minister has sought an explanation from the Turkish organization that manages the mosque.
Abdul Bari Omar, an official with the Taliban-run health authority in Afghanistan, went to the mosque to address a conference organized by the Afghan organization in Cologne.
“The presence of a Taliban representative in Cologne is completely unacceptable and should be strongly condemned,” said German Interior Minister Nancy Fesser.
He said that ‘no one should provide a platform to extremist Islamists in Germany.’
He urged the Turkish Islamic Association Ditb, which manages the mosque in the Khorvelar area of the city, to explain ‘how it is possible that the space is used in this way.’
Ditb’s administration says they had no prior knowledge of the Taliban official’s arrival.
“Contrary to the original agreement, the event was turned into a political event and a speaker whom we do not know was invited,” the organization’s statement said.
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The Turkish organization has rejected any kind of closeness with the Taliban, even spiritual closeness.
The German Foreign Ministry says the Taliban official was not issued a visa to enter Germany.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs added in its statement that apparently he was able to travel to Germany on a Schengen visa issued by a ‘neighboring country’.
According to local media, Omar came from the Netherlands where he attended a World Health Organization conference in early November.
Since the Taliban regained power in August 2021, Western countries have frozen billions of dollars in aid and assets to Afghanistan. The UN has described the move as an ‘extraordinary financial blow’ to the aid-dependent Afghan economy.
The Turkish Islamic Union for Religious Affairs is one of the largest Islamic organizations in Germany.