Afghanistan: Erdogan announces that Turkey has held talks with Afghan officials
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkish authorities had had a long discussion with Taliban officials in the aftermath of the attack near Kabul airport (photo from September 2020).
AFP - ADEM ALTAN
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Turkey, which plans to complete the withdrawal of its last soldiers from Kabul airport in the coming hours, has held talks with the Taliban in the Afghan capital.
This is what Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Friday, adding that the Taliban had offered Ankara to manage the airport after the American withdrawal.
The Turkish president said he had not yet made a decision.
Aware of the risks, the Turkish authorities are hesitant.
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With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer
Turkey is going to have to make a difficult decision. This is what Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested, confirming for the first time that the Taliban had requested the help of his country to manage the Kabul international airport after the American departure. Initial talks were held for more than three hours in a militarized section of the airport, where the Turkish embassy has been temporarily installed.
According to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Taliban would like to take care of security themselves, while Turkey - Turkish companies, therefore - would take care of the logistics of the infrastructure.
Such a proposal raises the question of the safety of Turkish civilians who could work in Kabul airport in the absence of Turkish soldiers, after this airport has just been hit by a
double suicide bombing
and President Erdogan is himself worried about a "
serious governance vacuum
" in Afghanistan at present.
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The idea also seems unpopular in the public opinion.
In a MetroPOLL poll carried out at the end of June, 62% of Turks supported the withdrawal of Turkish soldiers from Afghanistan, including almost half of the voters of the ruling party.
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See also
: Turkey announces the withdrawal of its soldiers deployed at Kabul airport
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