Turkish military in Afghanistan a grave mistake

Doha/Islamabad – ‘It would be a grave mistake for Turkey to keep its troops deployed in Afghanistan when the NATO ally-nations withdraw its army. This will not be good for Turkey,’ the Taliban issued a stern warning. Moreover, the Taliban leaders warned that Turkey, a NATO member country, would be accused of intrusion. Turkey had demanded NATO’s approval to keep its troops deployed for the security of Kabul international airport. The United States backed this Turkish demand. Following that, the furious Taliban seems to have warned Turkey against this demand.

It is not appropriate for an Islamic nation to take side with foreign intruders and accept enmity with another Islamic country, Taliban warned Turkey. Earlier, too, the Taliban had warned Turkey. Turkey had proposed to retain its deployed troops for international airport security in Kabul, Afghanistan, despite NATO and US army withdrawal. The United States backed this proposal. But, the Taliban responded to the proposal. It warned that NATO-member nation Turkey cannot retain its troops in Afghanistan.

It is being claimed that Turkey wants to extort money from the United States to exchange its army deployment for the airport in Kabul. Turkey’s economy is undergoing a downfall. Thus, Turkey needs financial assistance from the United States. For this, Turkey has decided to offer its military base to the United States to attack the Taliban. However, Turkey has set a condition that the United States should lift its sanctions on Turkey. But, the Taliban has been closely monitoring these Turkish movements.

This warning was issued by the Taliban’s political spokesperson, Mohammad Naim, in Doha, Qatar and Taliban representative in Afghanistan, Zabiullah Mujahid. ‘The presence of western nations and their ally countries that intrude into Afghanistan will never be tolerated in this country, the Taliban had clarified this already,’ said Naim and reminded of the warning he had issued last week. At the same time, Naim warned that this deployment would be a grave mistake for Turkey.

Moreover, Mujahid warned that even though Turkey is an Islamic nation, it joined the western army that intruded into Afghanistan. Thus, this invasion will not be tolerated under the pretext of protecting the airport. The action will be taken against them even if they are Turkish soldiers.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi visited Turkey to discuss cooperation in Afghanistan. The Pak Foreign Minister had said that he would hold talks with Turkey after the army withdrawal of the United States and ally-nations.

The United States set a trap to use Turkey and Pakistan against the Taliban. Both these nations should not entrap themselves in it, warn the Pakistan extremist analysts.