Taliban: What role will the Turkish military play in the security of Kabul airport now?

Posted on 17th Aug 2021 by rohit kumar

Nothing has been clarified so far on the plan to hand over the security of the airport in the capital Kabul to the Turkish army after the Taliban's complete occupation of Afghanistan.

 

Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Aker said on 12 August that the plan would be implemented in a few days, but after the ever-changing situation in Kabul, there are no doubts about the implementation of this plan.

 

The Taliban have criticized Turkey's placing of troops in Afghanistan after NATO forces left the country.

 

According to reports, 500 Turkish soldiers are present at Kabul's airport. Turkish soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan as part of NATO forces. He had no role in the war, rather he has been participating in other plans of NATO.

 

What is the current situation?

The Hurriyat, the state-backed newspaper in Turkey, published the news on 16 August that the Turkish army had prepared to deal with any situation and they had been ordered to retaliate if they were attacked.

 

The newspaper quoted an unnamed security source as saying that "no issues have come to light so far. Turkey's military has full capacity to deal with any kind of situation."

 

According to the information received so far, the Turkish embassy has been shifted to the military part of Kabul's airport and it is helping in the work of evacuating people out of the country.

 

Afghanistan's envoy to Turkey, Amin Muhammad Ramin, said on 13 August that the Turkish military would take responsibility for the internal security of the airport, while the Afghan army would look after the airport's external security.

 

But on August 16, there was an atmosphere of chaos at the airport of Kabul and according to the news, the security of the airport and air traffic control is currently in the hands of the American army.

 

On 16 August there was a lot of debate on TV channels about handing over the security of Kabul airport to the Turkish military.

 

Talking on NTV, a private TV channel, international affairs expert Mohammad Qasim Han questioned whether Turkish troops will remain in Afghanistan while the forces of all countries are moving out of Afghanistan.

 

He said that it may be so but according to him "it will not be right".

 

He said, "The Taliban may tolerate the presence of Turkish troops in the country for a while because of Turkey's close ties with Afghanistan and Pakistan, but is there any benefit to such a Turkish military presence at the airport?" Will happen?"

 

He said the Turkish military would have no other job than to protect the airport.

 

The purpose of the Turkish army to stay in Afghanistan?

Foreign affairs expert Matin Chokobko told NTV that things are completely different in Afghanistan.

 

He said that the Taliban may take over the control of the airport itself, but all this will be clear only in the coming days.

 

On August 15, Matin Gorchan spoke on these situations on a private TV channel 'Khabar Tak'.

 

He said that "NATO's mission in Afghanistan has ended and with this, there is no justification for Turkish troops to stay in Afghanistan."

 

Gorchan is a founding member of the country's Democracy and Progress Party. He said that the presence of Turkish troops in Afghanistan would have to be given a new name, it would have been better if it had been done under the UN Security Council.

 

Journalist Qadir Gursal remarked that the question of placing the security of Kabul airport in the hands of Turkish forces has ended after the Taliban took over Kabul.

 

Another journalist Nosan Mengu wrote in a tweet that the idea of ​​handing over the security of Kabul airport to the Turkish army has now died.

 

He said that "the international community will prefer to negotiate with the Taliban and will try to bring the Taliban into the mainstream in this way. Turkey will try to remain active at this stage."

 

Another senior journalist said it was too early for Turkey to hold talks with the Taliban's top leadership.

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he can talk to Taliban leaders to establish peace in Afghanistan.

 

demand to withdraw the army

On August 15, the leader of the Turkish opposition, Kemal Kuchdarolu, said that the Turkish government should withdraw Turkish troops from Afghanistan.

 

A newspaper supporting the opposition party put the headline on 16 August that the Turkish army should be withdrawn.

 

The newspaper said that Turkey wants to please America, but all its plans to do so have now come to an end.

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Joe Biden met in Brussels on June 14 this year to discuss plans to hand over the security of Kabul's airport to Turkish forces.

 

Some analysts believed that this offer from Turkey was an attempt to fix its bad relations with America, but some analysts also express doubts about it.

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