Nu in Afghanistan het door de USA geïnstalleerde bewind op instorten staat, vergroot Turkije haar rol aanzienlijk. Voor Nederland buiten beeld, overigens.

De belangstelling van de Nederlandse staatsomroep gaat niet verder dan de vroegere kampsite van de Nederlandse aanwezigheid in Afghanistan:

Ook Tarin Kowt, de hoofdstad van de Afghaanse provincie Uruzgan, staat op het punt veroverd te worden door de oprukkende Talibanmilities. In de stad woeden gevechten tussen de extremisten en het regeringsleger bij het hoofdkwartier van politie en de zetel van de gouverneur. Ook het voormalige Kamp Holland, nu de basis van de nationale veiligheidstroepen, ligt onder vuur.

Dat Turkije een prominente rol opeist wordt op veel plaatsen genegeerd:

At a moment the Biden administration seems to have resigned itself to sitting by and watching as the Taliban takes back all of Afghanistan, and as the Pentagon has revised its assessment saying it fears Kabul will fall within one month to 90 days, Turkey is setting itself up to be a major player in the country after the dust settles.
This could involve Turkey doing its own deal with the Taliban, while being the last major NATO member presence in the country amid the US exit, given Turkish troops are still running and guarding Kabul international airport as the last foreign troops are still flying out.
On Wednesday President Tayyip Erdogan raised eyebrows by for the first time saying he might soon meet with the leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada, in Turkey.

Talibantroepen naderen de hoofdstad Kabul nu snel:

A day after a new US intelligence assessment was reported by The Washington Post as predicting Kabul will likely fall to the Taliban within a one month to 90 day time frame, which is a significant revision down from the six month forecast reported in June, the Taliban has captured a key strategic city and major road which puts it within striking distance of the populous Afghan capital. “All local government officials, including the provincial governor, have been evacuated towards Kabul,” a Ghazni city official told international press outlets. Capture of the city puts the Taliban in an offensive position to move on both Kabul and Kandahar, given it sits about 93 miles south of Kabul on a major highway connecting the two, with the latter city being Afghanistan’s second largest.

In Amerika wordt nu rekening gehouden met de val van de regering in Kabul binnen een maand of drie:

US defense officials have now greatly revised that estimate after this past week which saw the Taliban overrun no less than eight provincial capital cities within a mere week. Officials told The Washington Post Kabul’s fall could likely occur within the next 90 days, according to a new military intelligence assessment, with some officials offering the more dire prediction of one month.

Maar Turkije is vastbesloten het aan haar toebedeelde vliegveld van Kabul te blijven verdedigen:

Turkey is for now still intent on running and guarding Hamid Karzai International airport in the Afghan capital Kabul after other foreign troops withdraw from the country, two Turkish officials stated.

En vindt dat NATO haar daarvoor betalen moet:

Turkey has offered to deploy troops at Kabul airport after NATO withdraws and has held talks with the United States for weeks. President Tayyip Erdoğan has asked it to meet financial, logistical and diplomatic conditions. (..) “For now nothing has changed regarding the TSK (Turkish Armed Forces) taking control of Kabul Airport. The talks and the process are continuing,” a senior Turkish official said.

Turkije is voornemens de Taliban te overtuigen van de voordelen van een door Turkije beheerd vliegveld:

The Taliban have warned Turkey against keeping troops in Afghanistan to guard the airport but Ankara has maintained its stance.
“There is no change in the view concerning taking control of Kabul Airport. But the situation in Afghanistan is changing from day to day,” a Turkish security official said, adding that Turkey was assessing developments.

President Erdogan van Turkije heeft geopperd dat hij een ontmoeting zal hebben met de leider van de Taliban om dit met hem te bespreken. Ongetwijfeld zal dan een interessante uitwisseling worden. Wordt derhalve binnenkort vervolgd.

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Meer over de ontwikkelingen in Afghanistan door de jaren heen vindt u hier.