Turkey said on Wednesday (August 25) that it had begun withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, apparently abandoning plans to help ensure the security of the Kabul strategic airport.
After the U.S. withdrawal was completed on Tuesday, Ankara has been hoping to gain a foothold in Kabul.
But the rapid occupation of the Afghan capital by the Taliban has thrown these plans into chaos, removing a key lever in its turbulent relationship with the United States.
The Turkish Ministry of Defense said in a statement: “The Turkish Armed Forces are returning to our homeland with the pride of successfully completing the tasks assigned to them.”
As part of NATO’s now abandoned mission in this war-torn country, Turkey has more than 500 non-combat forces stationed in Afghanistan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara is still interested in playing a role in Afghanistan and maintaining a smooth communication channel with Taliban leaders.
“It is important to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan,” Erdogan said when announcing the withdrawal.
“Turkey will continue to have close dialogue with all parties in Afghanistan to achieve this goal.”
The Turkish Ministry of Defense also reserved the possibility of playing a security role in Kabul.
“Turkey will continue to be with the Afghan people as long as they want,” it said, noting that the army has been stationed at the airport for the past six years.
‘Extra burden’
Erdogan is under tremendous political pressure at home and refuses to accept immigrants who may come from Afghanistan in response to the rise of fundamentalist Islamic organizations.
Under an agreement to help stop the EU immigration crisis in 2016, Turkey became home to more than 4 million immigrants, most of whom came from Syria.
Ankara is building a separation wall on its eastern border with Iran to prevent Afghans from trying to enter Europe through this route.
Erdogan said that Turkey now has about 5 million immigrants of different identities, which can no longer be accepted.
“We cannot handle the additional burden of immigrants from Syria or Afghanistan,” he said.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Tuesday that Ankara had evacuated 1,404 people from Afghanistan, of which 1,061 were Turkish nationals.
Çavuşoğlu added that only about 200 Turks still want to leave Kabul, leaving about 3,000 Turkish nationals telling embassy officials that they are willing to stay.
The Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that it had evacuated 1,129 people “using its aircraft.”
It did not explain why its numbers are different from those published by Çavuşoğlu.
