Foundation Islamic Union
Afganistan
Official Name: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Capital city : Kabul,
Currency: Afghani
Important Cities: Kandahar, Herat, Kunduz, Jalalabad, Punjab, Bedakhshan, Balkh, Mazar
Sharif, Ghazni, Charikar, Farah and Bamiyan.
Area : 657,225 km2,
Administrative Divisions: It is divided into 34 districts.
Nüfusu: 33.698.000[1]
Ethnicity: Afghans make up 42 per cent of the population, Tajiks 24 per cent, Turks 12.5 per cent, Mongolian-speaking Hazaras 8 per cent, Pharisees (Iranians) 4.2 per cent, Aymaks 3.4 per cent, Baluchis 1.7 per cent, Pashayis, Kizilbash, Nuristanis, Brahuis, Indians, Aryans the rest.
Language: The official languages are Pashto and Tajik. More than half of the population speaks Pashto and nearly a quarter speaks Tajik. In addition, minority languages are also spoken. Uzbek, Turkmen, Baluchi, Pashto and Nuristani are recognised as national languages.
Religion: 99 per cent of the population is Muslim, the majority of whom belong to the Hanafi madhhab. Apart from Sunnites, those belonging to different branches of Shi'a also represent a significant rate of 15-20 per cent. A small number of Hindus, Sikhs and Jews also live in Afghanistan.
Geography: Afghanistan, an Asia Minor country, is surrounded by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to the north, China to the north-east, Pakistan to the east and south, and Iran to the west.
Government: The country is governed by an interim constitution put into force on 27 September 1993. According to the constitution, the head of state is the head of state and the head of government is the prime minister. A 250-member provisional parliament was formed. However, due to the conflicts and conflicts between the mujahideen groups, a certain political structure could not be established.
Affiliated Organisations: UN, OIC, IMF, Islamic Development Bank
History: Islam reached Afghanistan after the Prophet 'Uthman (r.a.) or Mu'awiya (r.a.) sent Abdurrahman bin Samurah, the governor of Basra, to this country. After the Afghan people were introduced to Islam, this religion began to spread rapidly among them. Later, the country was ruled by tribal heads. In the second half of the 9th century, a large part of Afghanistan was taken over by the Samanids, and then the Ghaznavid state was established.
At a time when the troops of Hizbi Islāmi were squeezing Kabul, one of the leading commanders of Jamiat Islāmi, Sibghatullah Mujaddidī, the head of the Ahmadshah 'Provisional Council' and the interim president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, handed over the presidency to Burhan al-Dīn Rabbanī, the leader of Jamiat Islāmi, on 28 June 1992 at the end of the specified period. After Rabbanî took over the presidency, a ceasefire agreement was signed between the opposition mujahideen groups. However, fighting resumed after a while. Due to Hezb al-Islami's behaviour, President Rabbanî dismissed Prime Minister Abdussabur Farid, a prominent member of Hezb al-Islami. After these events, the clashes intensified. Although armed clashes ceased for certain periods after Hekmatyar, the leader of Hezbi Islami, was appointed as prime minister as a result of ceasefires and a large-scale agreement reached through various mediations, a final agreement could not be reached. Hekmatyar later left Kabul on the grounds that his life was not safe.
In 2001, the USA invaded Afghanistan and fought against the Afghan mujahideen for 20 years. Thousands of soldiers and Taliban died, but could not establish sovereignty, peace and security in the country. The USA had to leave Afghanistan on 31 August 2021, leaving all its weapons, equipment and vehicles. Taliban forces also entered the capital Kabul and seized control of the whole country.
External Problems: Russia continues to be a threat to Afghanistan in the 21st century. The support of some mujahideen groups in Afghanistan, especially Hizb-i Islami, to the groups fighting against the pro-Russian regime in Tajikistan and the use of Afghan territory as a base by the Tajik opposition caused Russia to make harsh statements against this country from time to time and to organise air strikes on its territory. Russia is also concerned about the influence of the Afghanistan administration and mujahideen groups on the Muslim peoples in Central Asia.
Internal Problems: Despite the liberation of Afghanistan from the Soviet occupation and the end of the communist regime in the country, the most important internal problem of the country is that the internal conflicts have not ended and the disagreements between the mujahideen groups continue. This situation also prevents the establishment of a certain political order in the country and the establishment of links with the outside world.
Islamic Movement: The Afghan people are a people who have taken great care to preserve their Islamic identity.
Organised activities aiming to make Islam dominant in the state in Afghanistan first started at Kabul University. The Islamic movement in Afghanistan was greatly influenced by the 'Muslim Brotherhood' movement in Egypt. Later, a group of lecturers, including Prof. Burhaneddin Rabbani and Sıbğatullah Mujaddidî, established a society and accelerated Islamic activities. Against Dawud Khan's efforts to spread communist thought in the country, students and intellectuals with Islamic identity also started to work systematically. Before the Soviet military intervention, the first mujahideen groups that gathered a part of the Muslim population to fight against the pro-Soviet administration were Hizb-i Islamî led by Gulbeddin Hekmatyar and Jamiat Islamî led by Prof. Burhaneddin Rabbanî. Hizb-i Islamî was more effective on the youth and university students. These two organisations were at the forefront of the jihad even after the Soviet occupation. Both organisations formed disciplined and militarily organised units during the jihad.
The Afghan Mujahideen, who were scattered in various groups such as Ittihad-e-Islam-e-Islam-e-Afghanistan, Movement-e-Inkılâb-e-Islamî, Hizb-e-Islamî, Me'haz-e-Mill-e-Islamî, Front-e-Najât-e Milli, formed a union in 1982 under the name of 'Islamic Union of Afghan Mujahideen' with the efforts of all organisations in order to fight more effectively against the occupiers and communist rule. However, since these organisations refused to dissolve their groups, the union had to disband soon after. In 1985, a second agreement led to the formation of a new union of the same name, headed by Ahmed Shah, the deputy of Abd al-Rasul Sayyaf, as its first president. According to the agreement, the presidency was to be held by representatives of the seven mujahideen groups on a rotating basis for three months. The unification and joint action of the seven mujahideen groups fighting against the Soviet occupation troops and the administration standing with their support increased their strength and helped to coordinate their activities.
Economy: Afghanistan is a country of agriculture and animal husbandry. The share of the income obtained in the gross domestic product is 53 per cent. 61% of the working population is employed in agriculture. The rivers are utilised to the maximum extent and thus irrigated agriculture is emphasised. However, only half of the cultivable land is irrigated. Cereals, vegetables, poppy, fruit and cotton are mostly grown on irrigated lands. In 1992, 2.5 million tonnes of cereals, 225 thousand tonnes of ground crops, 40 thousand tonnes of legumes, 620 thousand tonnes of fruits and 500 thousand tonnes of vegetables were produced. Nomadic and semi-nomadic masses, which constitute about 20 per cent of the population, are generally engaged in animal husbandry. In 1992 there were 1,650,000 head of cattle and 13.5 million head of sheep.
Afghanistan is known to have various underground resources such as iron, zinc, lead, petrol, beryllium and rubies, but they cannot be exploited sufficiently due to transport difficulties. Coal is produced on the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush mountains. Natural gas is also produced in northern Afghanistan. In 1992, 295 million m3 of natural gas was produced. Natural gas reserves in 1993 were estimated at 99 billion m3 .
Forest products are also utilised to a considerable extent. In 1991, 6 million 760 thousand m3 of logs were produced.
National income per capita: 592 USD[2]
Industry: Industry is newly developing. Factories producing textiles, leather, footwear, plastics, bicycles, bicycles, glass, bottles, cement, sugar, various foodstuffs and some military equipment have been established with foreign financial resources. The share of income from the industrial sector and all local sources in the gross domestic product is 29 per cent. Industry employs 13 per cent of the working population. This also includes those working in mines.
Energy: Afghanistan produced 1 billion 15 million kw/h of electricity in 1991. Electricity consumption in the same year is equal to this figure. 32 per cent of electricity is obtained from thermal power plants and 68 per cent from hydroelectric power plants. Annual electricity consumption per capita is 57 kw/hour on average.
Transport: There is an airport open to international traffic in Kabul and domestic airports in Baghlan, Herat and Kandahar. It has 18.970 km of highways, 2850 km of which are asphalted. Being mountainous makes it difficult to establish a railway network in this country. Therefore, highways are mostly used in transport. In Afghanistan, there is one motorised transport vehicle for 257 people on average.
Education: Afghanistan has 560 primary schools, 820 general and 35 vocational secondary schools. 20 per cent of primary school children can benefit from this education. There are 5 higher education institutions. The rate of literacy is 30 per cent.
[1] www.ticaret.gov.tr(accessed April 2022)
[2] www.ticaret.gov.tr (accessed April 2022)
