US President Joe Biden and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed this week that Turkey would take the lead in securing the airport of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
This was announced by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan after talks between the two leaders, who met Monday at a NATO summit.
Sullivan said it was agreed that Turkey would play a “leading role” in guarding the airport as the US withdraws its troops from Afghanistan. That airport is used by diplomats, among others. According to the security adviser, it is still being worked out exactly what the Turkish role will look like.
The US and Turkey have been at loggerheads over all kinds of files for years. The relationship did not improve after Biden took office, who, much to Turkey’s anger, officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.
According to Sullivan, the two leaders failed to agree on another sensitive topic: the Turkish purchase of the Russian defence system S-400.
It went badly for Washington that a NATO ally bought that advanced system from Moscow. The US banned Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program as a punishment. The security adviser said it was agreed to discuss that conflict further.
