PodcastErdoğan's remarks on Kabul airport misinterpreted: Afghanistan
Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gran Hewad has said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's statements on Kabul's airport were misinterpreted and Turkey's “intention was to support the Afghan Armed Forces to reach peace.”
Duvar English
Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gran Hewad has said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's remarks on Afghanistan following his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden have been misunderstood.
Turkey always favors a peaceful and negotiated political solution in Afghanistan and Erdoğan's statements aimed to gain the support and cooperation of the countries in the region, especially Pakistan, in order to accomplish this, Hewad told Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency on June 17.
Afghanistan sees “Erdoğan's intention as supporting Afghan Armed Forces to reach peace,” Hewad said.
On June 14, Erdoğan said that Turkey would need “diplomatic, logistic and financial assistance” from the United States if it were to maintain troops in Afghanistan to protect and run Kabul’s international airport, following the withdrawal of other NATO troops.
Speaking to reporters at the end of his meeting with Biden on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Erdoğan also said Turkey was seeking Pakistan and Hungary’s involvement in a new mission in Afghanistan following the departure of the U.S.-led NATO force.
Turkey has offered to guard the airport as questions remain on how security will be assured along major transport routes and at the airport, which is the main gateway to Kabul.
“If they don’t want us to leave Afghanistan, if they want a (Turkish) support there, then the diplomatic, logistic and financial support that the United States will give us will of great importance,” Erdoğan said on June 14.
US agrees to give Turkey lead role in securing Kabul airportDiplomacy
Taliban calls on Turkish troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, rejects Ankara's offer to run Kabul airportDiplomacy