Istanbul: Turkish Defense Minister said Friday that negotiations on his country’s proposal to operate and secure the main international airport in Afghanistan were underway.
Defense Minister Hulusi Root said Turkey was discussing plans with several countries.
“There must be some political decisions at the United Nations and NATO, and the agreement must be achieved with the Afghan government,” he said, adding that Turkey was seeking political, financial and logistics support from various countries.
He stressed that the final decision had not been achieved, but negotiations with the United States continued and the plan would be executed after the approval of the Turkish president.
Earlier this summer, Turkey proposed to operate and provided security for Hamid Karzai International Airport Kabul after US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed it with US President Joe Biden at their first face-to-face meeting during the NATO Summit in mid-June.
The agreement on airport protection has become increasingly urgent of the final withdrawal of 2,500-3,500 A.500 A.S.
and 76,000 Allied NATO soldiers approached the conclusion.
On Friday, all US troops left Bagram airfield after 20 years.
Air fields have become the center of military operations throughout the country to defeat the Taliban and hunt down Al-Qaeda perpetrators from the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Turkey NATO members have more than 500 troops in Afghanistan and have played an important role at the airport.
Previous roots said Turkey had no plans to mobilize more troops.
“The airport must be open and operated.
If the airport is unsuccessful, the embassy will pull out, and in such situations, Afghanistan will be an isolated country,” Defense Minister said.
Without a separate agreement at the airport, the current operation must be maintained under the resolute supporting mission, which is the current US LED military mission.
Until there was an agreement, it was not clear that the US and NATO could declare their military mission in Afghanistan.
“We have expressed our intention.
We say we can stay if this condition is realized,” Root said.
The Minister’s comment was brought by Anadolu’s official news agency.