ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the Taliban should “end the occupation of their brothers’ soil”, and played down a warning from the militant group of consequences if Turkish troops remain in Afghanistan to run Kabul airport.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a visit to northern Cyprus, Erdogan said the Taliban’s approach was not the way one Muslim should deal with another.
“(The Taliban) need to end the occupation of their brothers’ soil and show the world that peace is prevailing in Afghanistan right away,” he said.
Ankara, which has offered to run and guard the airport in the capital after NATO withdraws, has been in talks with the United States on financial, political and logistical support for the deployment.
(Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Dominic Evans)
