Table of Contents
What has happened?
- The Taliban on Tuesday warned Turkey against extending its troop presence in Afghanistan when US-led forces leave the country, insisting thedecision was “reprehensible”.
- As the U.S. prepares to exit Afghanistan’s sprawling Bagram base after 20 years of war,
- NATO partner Turkey is willing to take the lead securing another airstrip — Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International, 65 kilometers (40 miles) to the south.
Why this is important?
- Throwing a protective ring around the landlocked nation’s airport is critical for those wanting to sustain a strategicpresence in Afghanistan.
- That includes Western powers on the look out for emerging terrorist threats, China with its now-stalled interest in vast mineral deposits, and India, which wants Kabul as a keyally in its tussle with neighboring Pakistan.
- Now that almost all Western troops have withdrawn from Afghanistan, the central government in Kabul is largelyon its own to fight the radical Islamist Taliban.
- But Afghanistan might now receive military help from Turkey.
- Now that almost all Western troops have withdrawn from Afghanistan, the central government in Kabul is largely on its own to fight the radical Islamist Taliban.
- But Afghanistan might now receive military help from Turkey.
But why turkey wants to provide security?
- It’s a dangerous proposition for Ankara, which has provided security at the airport’s busy military section for 6 years as part ofthe NATO-led Resolute Support Mission.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, though, has his eye on the possible rewards.
- Taking on a job no one else wants would provide an opportunity to repair ties with Washington strained by years of disputes,
- Most intensely Turkey’s purchase of a Russian missile-defense system that NATO considers a threat to its security.
- “With its aggressive policies, Turkey has lost friends in every corner,” expert said.
- “It needs to put a good face on for the financial markets and hopes to curry favor with the U.S. and Europe.”
- NATO officials say they welcome Ankara’s involvement in Afghanistan. They think Turkey, as a Muslim-majority country, could play a mediating role in the Hindu Kush.
Attack on Kabul airport
- The airport has been struck repeatedly by bombings and rocket attacks over the years.
- One of the deadliest incidents was in 2018 when a suicide attack claimed by Islamic State targeted then-Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum as he returned from Turkey.
- Dostum survived but nearly 80 people who had come to welcome him were killed or injured.
challenges
- “Unless there is an agreement between the Taliban and Turkeyto temporarily operate the Kabul airport, it is missionimpossible due to colossal security risks,”
- Said Nihat Ali Ozcan, a strategist at the Economic Policy Research Foundation in Ankara.
- “The question is who will prevent the Taliban from firing mortar rounds or rockets at the runway from afar?”
Response from Taliban
- The Taliban response was swift: Turkish soldiers, while representatives of a “great Islamic nation,” are “occupiers” of Afghan territory and, just like the Americans, they should leave.
- “The decision… is ill-advised, a violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity and against our national interests,”the group said in a statement.
- “We consider stay of foreign forces in our homeland by any country under whatever pretext as occupation,” the Taliban said.
Current situation
- The insurgents have swept through much of northern Afghanistan in recent weeks, and
- The government now holds little more than a constellation of provincial capitals that must largely be reinforced & resupplied by air.
- The strategy is one well-worn by the Taliban, particularly during their first rise to power in the 1990s, cutting off towns and district centres and getting elders to negotiate a surrender.
Q) How was the Turkey known in the beginning of the 20th century?
- Guardian of Europe
- Leader of Europe
- Sick man of Europe
- Playground of Europe
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