Turkey Vows Not to Leave Afghanistan Alone

On the sidelines of a high-level meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants at the United Nations General Assembly, Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu in a special interview with Ariananews said that Afghanistan still need global cooperation and Turkey will not leave it alone.

The Turkish Foreign Minister emphasizes that Turkey’s cooperation with Afghanistan will increase in military, political and economic sectors.

“Turkey continues to support its Afghan brothers and sisters; We have not decrease our efforts, conversely we increase it,” said  Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkish Foreign Minister.

Cavusoglu stresses on his country’s military, political and economic cooperation with Afghanistan.

“Turkey is one of the countries which assisted Afghanistan in many areas. Currently, this country has many schools in Afghanistan which the Afghan students are training with global standards,” added foreign minister Cavusoglu.

Turkey and Afghanistan have a deep-rooted, special relationship based on strong historic ties. In 1921, when Turkey was fighting for its independence, Afghanistan was the first country after the Soviet Union to recognize the government of the Republic of Turkey.

Turks have also not forgotten that Afghan King Amanullah Khan was the first head of state to visit the new Turkish republic in 1928.

In 1932, Turkey established Ali Abad University, and in 1935, the law and medicine faculties at the University of Kabul.

Turkish doctors and academics spent many years at these institutions. As of 2014, Turkey has implemented about 600 projects in Afghanistan, including constructing or repairing schools and medical facilities, for a total of nearly $300 million.

Turkey’s contributions to Afghanistan in the security field are also substantial. Since 2001, Turkey has twice commanded the ISAF, and since 2009, Turkey has been in charge of the Kabul command. Turkey trained 17,500 Afghan soldiers, with 3,500 others trained in Turkey. The Afghan National Army was supplied with $50 million in equipment, $7 million in training and $184,000 in medical assistance.

Reported by Nazira Karimi