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Erdogan: No agreement on Kabul airport

THE Turkey expects “inclusive” government from the Taliban before concluding an operational agreement with Kabul airport, the president warned today Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Prior to the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the arrival of the Taliban in power in mid-August, NATO member Turkey had offered to take over security at the international airport.

Following the unexpected fall of the Western-backed government, Turkey has begun talks with the new rulers in Afghanistan to help manage the airport, which is essential for Afghanistan’s humanitarian aid and relations with the rest of the world. But no results so far.

“The government in Afghanistan does not include them all, it does not include all the components. “As long as this happens, we will not go to Afghanistan, but if the government is more open then Turkey can go there,” Erdogan said in an interview with CBS News, which was filmed on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“We want women to be actively involved in all aspects of life in Afghanistan, we can support them,” she was quoted as saying by the US network.

“Things started badly”

The Turkish president recalled that the security of Kabul airport and his assumption of responsibility by Turkey were discussed with his US counterpart Joe Biden in Brussels in June, during the NATO summit.

But relations between the two leaders have been strained since then: Erdogan even admitted to the Turkish press on Thursday that “things started badly” between them.

In particular, the purchase from Turkey of Russian S-400 defense missiles and the freezing, in retaliation, from the United States of the purchase of F-35 fighter jets.

Erdogan, who is expected to travel to Russia on Wednesday, told CBS that he intends to continue the second phase of the contract with the Russians.

“No one, in the future, should be able to interfere in the defense systems we intend to acquire, any country and at any level,” he warned.

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