Erdogan: Taliban want Turkish help at Kabul airport

According to Turkish President Erdogan, talks are taking place with the Taliban about running the airfield of the Afghan capital, after the Americans left there on 31 August.

The Taliban have made a proposal, Erdogan said. They only want technical assistance and not Turkish soldiers at the airport. Erdogan says he hasn’t made a decision yet, because there are many risks involved.

Turkey has already offered the Taliban to keep the airport running. But the Taliban seemed to have no interest in that at the time. Turkey has previously been in charge of the airport for six years as part of the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

Keeping the airport in Kabul running is essential for the future of Afghanistan, in order to maintain a ‘somewhat’ relationship with the rest of the world, the US stated earlier.