As Turkey prepares to fill the gap created by the withdrawal of NATO and the United States in Afghanistan, it will have to face the threat posed by the Taliban, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle said on Monday.
Turkish forces are currently responsible for the airport under the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission, and Ankara has indicated it would be willing to maintain this presence if given international support. But questions loom over the viability of the Turkish deployment without continued U.S. air support.
Turkey has also offered to take responsibility for securing Kabul International Airport.
The Taliban is advancing across Afghanistan as almost all western troops have withdrawn from the country, DW said, with the jihadist group stating theirclaims to power on very clear terms in numerous regions.
While NATO officials say they welcome Ankara’s involvement in Afghanistan, the German broadcaster said, Taliban spokesman Suheyl Shaheen has outright rejected the idea.
“All foreign forces, contractors, advisers and trainers should withdraw from the country,” Shaheen told BBC, referring to the September deadline.
The Islamist militants have been successful in winning back territory despite their presence of 60,000 troops against as many as 300,000 Afghan troops, Uzgel said, adding, “Afghan cities are still being retaken, and the Afghan army, which is actually stronger on paper, is not cutting much of a figure on the battlefield”.
International relations expert Sezin Oney maintains that the military advances of the Taliban cannot be stopped.
“Foreign soldiers in Afghanistan must be tolerated by the Taliban,” and that’s where Ankara’s hands are tied, Öney said.
“If Turkey ignores the risk posed by the Taliban, there will be dire consequences, both financially and morally,” Turkey’s former ambassador to the United States, Faruk Loğoğlu, said.
Ahval