ISTANBUL – The Taliban has asked Turkey to operate Kabul airport but nodecision has been made yet, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saidFriday.
“The Taliban have made a request for us to operate Kabul airport. We havenot yet made a decision on this matter,” he told a news conference atIstanbul’s Ataturk Airport before leaving for a trip to Bosnia.
Erdogan said a meeting with the Taliban lasting more than three hours tookplace at the Turkish embassy in Kabul, without saying when the meeting tookplace. If necessary, we will have the opportunity to hold such meetingsagain.
“They said they would be in charge of security while we could executecontrol. We have not yet made a decision, as evacuating our citizens andservicemen is currently the top priority. We need to see the generalpicture in Afghanistan, there is currently no government there. We willconsider the issue when everything becomes clear,” Erdogan told reporters.
Read Top Stories
The president added that the evacuation of Turkish troops from Kabul, whichbegan on Wednesday, was ongoing. He condemned Thursday’s attacks.
The prospect of Turkey operating Hamid Karzai International Airport afterthe withdrawal of NATO troops was first raised in June but seemed to havepassed when the Taliban took Kabul on August 15.
