Turkey is trying to boost operations in Afghanistan

Turkey wants an agreement with the US to take security measures at Kabul International Airport, and to give Nato allies a chance of compromise after several conflicts have ended relations.

The US this week has left its main force in Afghanistan, part of an emergency evacuation that has left the Taliban in a state of renewed anxiety and uncertainty that the country could be disrupted.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Joe Biden at a Nato summit last month that Turkey could improve security at the airport if the US President provided the “diplomatic, operational and financial support” needed for the mission. Erdogan also acknowledged the “reality of the Taliban”, saying Ankara would continue talks with the military.

Hulusi Akar, Turkey’s security minister, and US secretary of state Lloyd Austin held talks Wednesday to “encourage and encourage” the “security operation of Hamid Karzai International Airport,” Turkey’s security ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Akar said this week that Turkey is determined to make “contributions to the security, peace and development of the Afghan people”, according to state media official TRT.

However, many beliefs in Turkey are in line with the Taliban, which is advancing towards the capital and has made it clear that it will not tolerate any foreign faction in Afghanistan. Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan is now embroiled in civil war. Turkey wants to end the war and alliance with the Taliban, who now say: ‘You came with Nato, and you go with Nato’, “he said.” Without the Taliban’s permission, Turkey sees the mistake as wrong. It is very dangerous. ”

Setting up Hamid Karzai International Airport as a security gate is essential if ambassadors and aid agencies remain in Afghanistan. “We know that Kabul’s airport should be open and operational. If not, the ambassadors will leave, making Afghanistan a distant land,” Akar said.

Turkey, Nato’s second largest military base, has already launched military operations at the airport. Akar has called for an increase in the 500-strong force, and Erdogan said he hopes to return to Hungary and Pakistan to take part in the operation. Pakistan has already refused to allow the US to make eagles on its territory. Pakistan hopes Turkey will seek “assistance and transportation” in the country and “share knowledge in Afghanistan”, a Pakistani government official told the Financial Times to remain anonymous.

Rahimullah Yusufzai, Afghanistan’s long-serving commander in Peshawar, a border town on the Afghan border, said Pakistan’s intervention would end tensions with the Afghan government, which sees Islamabad as a strong ally of the Taliban. “One of the best things Pakistan can do is help Turkey on a regular basis. “Furthermore, I think this is not good for Pakistan,” he said.

Turkey, which has supported the U.S. in uncooperative work since the start of the war in 2001, shares religious and other ties with Afghanistan. Erdogan also sees the move as an opportunity to “re-establish relations” with the US after years of separation on various foreign views, says Hasan Selim Ozertem, a private security analyst.

“Turkey believes that this could prove that it is a Nato ally, a reminder that it can work with the US, that it is one of the countries that can take such a role,” he said.

Since Biden’s election, Erdogan has promised to improve relations with the US, which has imposed sanctions on Ankara over the purchase of high-quality Russian weapons for Nato missiles. The agreement in Afghanistan “puts them at a disadvantage [the disputes] It’s too cold and I’m giving them a good chance to negotiate, “Ozertem said.” U.S. government officials have refused to comment on their agreement with Turkey.

Additional reports of Stephanie Findlay in New Delhi and Aime Williams in Washington