US, Turkey Discuss Cooperation and Withdrawal from Afghanistan

The Pentagon announced that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had discussed with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar the means of cooperation between the two countries and the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Both Austin and Akar stressed the importance of maintaining security at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, as the Pentagon stated. Austin also reasserted the importance of the long-term defensive relations between Washington and Ankara.

An official in the US Ministry of Defense had said earlier that the US forces had vacated the Afghan Bagram Airbase, which is one of the biggest military bases, within the framework of the peace agreement with the Taliban.

The closure of the Bagram Airbase, 40 miles north of Kabul, ends the US military presence at Afghanistan's biggest airbase that was frequently used to launch airstrikes on the Taliban and other radical groups in the ongoing Afghan war since 20 years.

Furthermore, the US Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ned Price pointed out that Washington does not intend to abandon Afghanistan, despite the planned withdrawal from the country.

Weeks prior to the completion of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, US Army General Austin Scott Miller warned against the risk of a civil war as the security situation deteriorates in the country, indicating that “recent gains by the Taliban are highly concerning, even if not unexpected.”