Istanbul
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said Turkey was planning talks with the Taliban over the hardline Islamist group’s refusal to let Ankara run Kabul airport after US troops withdraw from Afghanistan.
God willing, we will see what kind of talks we will have with the Taliban and see where these talks take us,” Erdogan told journalists in Istanbul.
Turkey has been negotiating with US defence officials over its offer to help secure and run Kabul airport, which is key to allowing countries to retain a diplomatic presence in the war-torn country after the troop withdrawal.
Erdogan and US President Joe Biden discussed the issue in their first face-to-face meeting on the margins of a NATO summit in June. —Agencies
