Turkey’s Intelligence Chief Meets Taliban Leaders in Kabul and Kandahar to Deepen Security Ties
Turkish intelligence head İbrahim Kalın has visited Kabul and Kandahar to meet senior Taliban officials, including Afghanistan’s defense and interior ministers, the deputy prime minister and the local intelligence chief, in talks focused on strengthening relations and deepening security cooperation.
Turkey is moving closer to the Taliban authorities by putting its top intelligence official directly across the table from them.
İbrahim Kalın, the head of Turkish intelligence, traveled to Afghanistan, where he held meetings in both Kabul and Kandahar with senior figures in the Taliban regime. According to reports, he met the defense minister, the interior minister, the deputy prime minister and the head of local intelligence.
Both sides discussed strengthening relations and deepening security cooperation. The visit signals that Ankara wants a more structured relationship with the Taliban authorities, built around security and political contacts at a high level.
For the Taliban, hosting Turkey’s intelligence chief in Kabul and Kandahar offers a form of recognition and a chance to broaden their external partnerships. For Turkey, direct engagement with the ministers in charge of defense, internal security and intelligence opens channels to influence how the Taliban handle security issues that can spill across borders.
The content of any specific understandings reached during the visit hasn’t been made public. Future announcements from Ankara or Kabul about agreements, training, or security projects will show whether this trip was mainly exploratory or the start of a more formal security partnership.
Signals to watch include follow‑up visits at ministerial level, reference to Turkey in Taliban statements on security and intelligence, and any mention of joint initiatives or Turkish‑backed projects tied to border control, counterterrorism or policing.
Sources
- OSINT