Ankara, Turkey – The Turkish government has refused to recognize the credentials of diplomats appointed by the previous, Western-backed Afghan government, three years after the Taliban's return to power, the departing diplomatic team said on Tuesday. This move paves the way for the Taliban regime to appoint its own diplomats to Turkey.

The outgoing team said in a post on the X platform that it handed over the Afghan embassy in Ankara to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Monday. They strongly indicated that the Turkish government's decision to terminate the credentials of the embassy and its diplomats was a result of intense pressure from the Taliban on the diplomats and Turkish officials.

Turkish authorities have not yet made any official comment on the matter.

Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, seizing the capital Kabul and much of the country for the first time in 20 years, the group has been striving to bring foreign embassies and consulates under its control.

The takeover of the Turkish diplomatic mission marks the Taliban's acquisition and control of over forty foreign missions.

The departing Afghan diplomats claimed that the Turkish government's decision was influenced by its desire to maintain its own embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, as well as consulates in Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat.

In July of last year, ahead of the third anniversary of the Taliban's return to power, the group announced that it would no longer recognize the Afghan diplomatic corps dispatched and formed by the previous Western-backed government.

However, most countries have not yet recognized the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.

Tensions between the Taliban and the West have heightened since the group's return to power, particularly due to the Taliban regime's imposition of severe restrictions on the activities of women and girls. Despite this, the new Afghan government has established diplomatic relations with key regional players such as China, Russia, and wealthy Gulf states.