TURKEY TO DELIVER AID TO AFGHANISTAN VIA PAKISTAN

Tue 28 September 2021:

Turkey’s oreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Monday announced that humanitarian aid will be sent to Afghanistan by land via Pakistan, as it is faster and less costly.

Çavuşoğlu answered the questions of journalists after the presidential Cabinet meeting on Monday.

When asked whether there was contact with the interim Taliban government in Afghanistan, Çavuşoğlu said: “There is a meeting at the ambassador level. We have not been there yet, they have not come. They need humanitarian aid, food, medicine and winter is coming. We are talking about these needs.”

Asked about the latest situation regarding the operation of Kabul airport, Çavuşoğlu said: “Negotiations are continuing. Security concerns are still not resolved.

There is no complete clarity. Charter flights are temporarily open at certain hours, but conditions for regular flights have not yet been established. Negotiations are continuing.”

When asked about the humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Çavuşoğlu said: “We also advise everyone on this issue. The country should not collapse and its economy should not collapse. We held meetings with AFAD (Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority), Kızılay (Turkish Red Crescent) and other relevant institutions in the field.

There was an agreement between us, especially about getting aid from Pakistan and sending aid there. It was also on the agenda at the Cabinet meeting. We will send humanitarian aid. We will take most of it from Pakistan and send it by land. It is both faster and less costly. We will increase the amount of humanitarian aid in the coming days.”

Turkey had been planning to help secure and run the airport before the Taliban’s swift capture of the Afghan capital last month. There were also negotiations on the subject this summer between Turkish and U.S. officials but after the Taliban’s return, Turkish troops stationed in the country pulled out.

Turkey’s withdrawal alongside other NATO forces followed the end of the United States’ longest military conflict last month.

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