The "Taliban", an Afghani militant movement, has asked Turkey to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, like the rest of the other NATO countries.
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen was quoted by the Afghan "Tolo News" channel as saying that because Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), it should withdraw its forces from Afghanistan on the basis of an agreement the Taliban signed with the United States of America (USA) on February 29, 2020,".
Shaheen added that since Turkey is a major Muslim country, Afghanistan has historical relations with it so the Afghans hope that they will have a close and good relationship with Ankara after the formation of a new Islamic government in our country in the future."
The Taliban responded to an offer made by Turkey recently to secure Kabul Airport with its armed forces, after the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan.
According to Reuters, Ankara made this offer to Washington at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in May this year, when the USA and its allies discussed a plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Discussions on the Turkish proposal are scheduled to continue next week during the NATO summit.
On April 14, 2021, US President Joe Biden announced plans to begin withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan in May and to complete this process by September 11, 2021.
The previous US administration headed by Donald Trump signed a peace agreement with the Taliban in February 2020 in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, under which Washington pledged to withdraw its forces, as well as those of its allies, by May 1, 2021.
This delay caused by what was stated in the agreement reached in Doha caused sharp resentment on the part of the Taliban, which in practice declared that in this case, it considers itself free from the obligations undertaken under the Doha agreement.
It is noteworthy that the Turkish soldiers deployed in Afghanistan in the "Resolute Support" mission led by NATO numbered 500 soldiers.
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