The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

Now, having become the head of the Afghan State, Taraki remembered all of thefavors that his Soviet ustaz * had done for him. The Afghan administration sent an invitationthrough the Soviet Foreign Ministry for Nikolai Alexandrovich to visit Afghanistan asTaraki’s personal guest.Nikolai Alexandrovich was met by officers from Taraki’s secretariat at KabulAirport. The president of the Academy of Sciences of the DRA, Nurzai (a former student ofthe professor), was there along with the officers from the secretariat. Valery Starostingreeted the professor warmly. They agreed that he would drive the guest from the hotel tothe Soviet embassy. Dvoryankov, like most other visitors from the Soviet Union, settled inHotel Kabul. Starostin drove him to the Soviet embassy to meet Puzanov. However, theprofessor didn’t remain at the ambassador’s office for long. He left in a flustered andagitated state. He relayed to Starostin how the conversation had transpired.Puzanov: “So, how will you and I arrange a visit to Taraki? When will he be able tosee us?”Dvoryankov: “Alexander Mikhailovich, perhaps I didn’t understand you correctly—are you expecting to visit Taraki together with me?”Puzanov: “Of course—how else?”Dvoryankov: “Taraki invited me as his close personal friend. How does this concernyou? I’m sorry, but I will go to the meeting with Taraki alone, or I will not go to the meetingat all!”“You were pretty direct,” commented Starostin. “You may have unwittingly createda dangerous enemy for yourself.”* Teacher, professor, or mentor269