Taliban Requests Turkey to Send Professors and Medical Specialists to Afghanistan

As universities and health centers in Afghanistan face a serious shortage of professors and specialized doctors, the Taliban administration has asked Turkey to send academic staff for teaching and practical training.

Neda Mohammad Nadim, acting head of the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education, raised this request on Tuesday during a meeting with Sadin Ayyildiz, Turkey’s ambassador to Kabul. According to the ministry, she also requested the reconstruction of two old buildings of Aliabad Teaching Hospital, affiliated with Kabul Medical Sciences University, and cooperation in equipping teaching hospitals.

According to the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education’s statement, the Turkish ambassador said his country is ready to expand scientific cooperation with Afghanistan, and Turkish universities can sign cooperation agreements with Afghan universities. However, the statement did not clarify whether Ankara agreed to send professors and specialized doctors.

This request comes at a time when, following the Taliban’s return to power, there has been an increased wave of university professors, doctors, and specialists leaving the country. Over the past five years, economic problems, job restrictions, political pressures, and security concerns have been cited as the main reasons for the departure of academic staff, and some professors have also been dismissed from their positions.

Critics say the Taliban administration has appointed individuals without academic backgrounds and figures close to the group to managerial and teaching positions at some universities; a move that, alongside the mass migration of specialists, has significantly reduced the quality of education and research.

Furthermore, since November 2022, the ban on education for girls and women in universities has not only deprived women of higher education but also halted the work of female professors and the training of female doctors and specialists, exacerbating the shortage of skilled personnel in the health sector. Aliabad Teaching Hospital remains one of the country’s most important medical-educational centers, playing a key role in training specialist doctors.