Will Turkey take over security at Afghanistan's main airport?
Istanbul, Turkey As US military and intelligence officers quietly slide out of Afghanistan, the security environment in the country has become increasingly fragile, including Kabuls Hamid Karzai International Airport, which serves as a gateway to the world. After the first bilateral talks with US President Joe Biden during a summit of NATO leaders in early June, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkish troops could continue to stay at Kabul airport to guard it and assist in the withdrawal of NATO. This could be on condition that Turkey, a NATO member, receives the necessary diplomatic, financial and logistical support from the United States. Hungary, which participated in the airport mission as a NATO member, and Pakistan may also be included. American and Turkish defense officials are still negotiate the issue, and Turkish public opinion is divided. It is unclear whether Turkish troops will stay as part of another NATO mission, or just such as Ankaras military deployments in Libya, Syria and Iraq. Erdogans announcement came with Turkeys membership in NATO, not only among its Western allies, but also within the country. Turkeys relations with the West have soured over its acquisition of a Russian S-400 missile system. The purchase collided because the batteries are not compatible with NATO systems. Relations also confuse Ankaras military presence in Libya, Syria and Iraq, and its oil and gas exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean that have brought Turkey and Greece into dispute. Ankara believes it was abandoned by its allies when they withdrew their air defense systems from the Syrian border, despite Turkey perceiving a direct threat from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish armed group, Units of The Peoples Defense (YPG), which Turkey says is a branch of the PKK. Ankaras multibillion-dollar acquisition of the S-400s prompted unprecedented US sanctions against its NATO ally. Under the U.S. Counter-Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, any foreign government working with the Russian defense sector finds itself in the middle of U.S. sanctions. Agrate islamic country  Turkey has more than 500 troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO non-combat mission. Soldiers have overseen the training of Afghan security forces, and some still serve at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the capital. As Muslim members of NATO alone, Turkeys non-competitive troops have maintained close ties with all ethnic groups, including the Taliban, the Islamic movement, and the military organization scattered throughout Afghanistan. However, the Taliban, as they continue to seize territory, have rejected Ankaras proposal to guard and run Kabul airport as US-led NATO forces  Turkey has been part of NATO forces for the past 20 years so as such, they should withdraw from Afghanistan under the agreement we signed with the US on February 29, 2020, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said in June . Otherwise, Turkey is a big Islamic country. Afghanistan has had a historic relationship with him. We hope to have close and good relations with them once a new Islamic government is established in the country in the future, he added. Estimates suggest the Taliban control nearly half of the 400 districts in Afghanistan. However, a Taliban delegation to Russia on Friday claimed 85 percent of Afghan territory was under the control of groups. Analysts suggest that Turkey cannot stay in Afghanistan if the Taliban do not agree with it. In the Turkish capital, the general perception is that the Taliban is an undeniable reality in Afghanistan. Officials say the group has transformed its hardline policies and is not what it was 20 years ago. Fighters against the Taliban patrol in Ghorband district, Parwan province, in late June [Omar Sobhani/Reuters]  Military victory  Hikmet Cetin, Turkeys former deputy prime minister and former NATO senior civilian representative for Afghanistan, said despite the Taliban claiming to have changed, there is no answer as to how much. However, he is one of those who believe it is Turkeys historical and cultural responsibility to stand up and help the Afghan people after NATO withdrawal, as long as Ankara has Western support along with the approval of the Taliban. While the political wing of the Taliban is in favor of reconciliation, the military wing is pursuing a military victory. They want to agree. Otherwise, nothing will have changed there in the last 19 years, Cetin told Al Jazeera. He stressed that Afghanistan needs support and any government in Kabul will seek international recognition. It is still unclear whether foreign missions would stay in a place run by tough lines, but a functioning airport is one that everyone in Kabul needs, he noted. International relations professor Mesut Hakki Casin said Turkey and the Taliban will somehow agree as nothing is impossible in diplomacy. He argued that Turkey and the US turned a new page in relations during the recent NATO leaders summit. The US is a superpower, Turkey is not. For its vital interests, Turkey will stand. Casin underlined that Turkish troops have a positive image in the country and they have always acted within the field of law and have never had any direct conflict with the Taliban. Take an active role  Given his economic fragility and strained relations with the West, Erdogan wants to secure the necessary support for his U.S. military to stay in Afghanistan, observers say. Member states must uphold their founding principles and strengthen the alliance, Erdogan told a news conference in Brussels last month. From the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, from Europe to Asia, the alliance must take an active role wherever the NATO-provided security tent is sought. The period is not an escape from responsibility, but a period of taking responsibility. In particular, NATO needs to take more effective initiatives in the face of global challenges. Despite his belief that Turkey should stay and protect Kabul airport, Cetin said the main reason behind Ankaras proposal is to satisfy Washington. They are discussing Afghanistan without the Afghan government and the Taliban, he said, noting that there has been no heart change from local tribes over the scope of Turkish missions. A military source, who asked not to be named, stressed that Turkish non-competing troops could only continue at Kabul airport for another two years and there is no roadmap for their military presence after that. What will be mandatory for Turkey is whether it will be able to conduct proper public diplomacy between the ethnic groups of Afghanistan, a very complex country. The security situation in Afghanistan has rapidly deteriorated as foreign troops withdraw after 20 years, and hundreds of members of the Afghan service have crossed the border into Tajikistan in response to advances from the Taliban. Tajikistan on Wednesday called on members of a Russian-led military bloc to help it deal with security challenges posed by Afghanistan, hours after Moscow pledged to protect its troubled regional allies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was ready to use its military base in Tajikistan, one of its largest abroad, to ensure the security of its allies in the region. After the senior Russian diplomat raised the option, some observers questioned whether it would lead to a possible co-operation between Moscow and Ankara if Turkey manages to persuade the US and the Taliban to keep its troops.