Turkey begins evacuation of troops from Kabul airport

 INA-Sources

Turkey has begun evacuating its armed forces from Afghanistan after evaluating the current situation and conditions, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement late Wednesday, referring to the Taliban's takeover of the war-ridden country. 
 
"Turkish Armed Forces returning to their homeland with pride of successfully fulfilling task entrusted to them," it added.
 
Turkey has deployed 500 soldiers in Afghanistan who performed non-combat missions as part of the now-abandoned NATO mission in the country.
Ankara recently held negotiations with both Washington and the Taliban about its possible contribution to securing Kabul Airport after the withdrawal of US forces scheduled for Tuesday.
 
US officials said those talks were continuing last week.
 
But the Taliban's quick takeover of the Afghan capital was a blow to Turkey's plans, and thus deprived it of an important pressure card in its troubled relations with Washington.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that Ankara was still interested in playing a role in Afghanistan and leaving channels of communication open with Taliban leaders.
"It is important for Afghanistan to be stable," he said, coinciding with the announcement of the withdrawal of his soldiers from Kabul.
 
"Turkey will continue to engage in dialogue with all parties in Afghanistan within the framework of achieving this goal," he added.
 
In turn, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a tweet that "Turkey will continue to contribute by all means to the peace and prosperity of the Afghan people."