The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan: its impact and consequences for the Middle East was the title of a joint symposium held on-line on Zoom platform between the University of Human Development, the University of Sulaimani and the University of Halabja on September 8th, 2021. 

     The speakers first presented their topics as follows. Dr Ala Janko from the University of Human Development talked about the constitution of Afghanistan and how the Taliban want to implement Sharia laws and how different those laws are from the Afghan constitution. This was followed by the second speaker, Mr Shamal Ahmed, a lecturer at the University of Halabja. He spoke about the composition of the Afghan society and how the Taliban have managed to rule the country before and what kind of challenges they are expected to face in the future. The third speaker was Mr Salam Abdulqadir from the University of Human Development. His talk was about the so-called peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban signed in Doha on February 29th, 2020. He evaluated the agreement and clarified how it helped the Taliban to come back to power and what consequences it may have for the future of the wider area. The fourth speaker was Mr Kardo Rasheed from the University of Human Development. He compared the situation in Iraq with the one in Afghanistan and the possibility of a similar outcome after the withdrawal of the United States combat forces from Iraq at the end of 2021. He raised the question over the integrity of the Iraqi society and threat from the militant groups to the Iraqi government and the autonomous region of the Iraqi Kurdistan. The fifth speaker was Dr Peshraw Ali from the University of Sulaimani. He reviewed the policy of the United States in Afghanistan and presented his view on the fallout of the Taliban takeover to the countries surrounding Afghanistan and the world. The symposium was concluded with questions and comments from the audience which numbered around 80. It lasted more than an hour and a half.