Kabul

The Taliban claimed on July 9 to be in control of 85 percent of Afghanistan after seizing key border crossings with Iran and Turkmenistan, part of a sweeping offensive launched as US troops pull out of the war-torn nation.

The defense chiefs of Turkey and the U.S. on July 7 discussed in a phone call the latest situation in ongoing talks on ensuring the security of the airport in Afghanistan's capital after this summer's NATO pullout from the country, said Turkey's Defense Ministry.

Turkey will hold a high-level meeting under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss ongoing talks with the United States over the former's bid to operate Kabul International Airport after the completion of NATO's withdrawal from Afghanistan, the defense minister has said.

After nearly 20 years, the U.S. military left Bagram Airfield, the epicenter of its war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, two U.S. officials said on July 2. 

Turkish and U.S. delegations discussed areas of cooperation to run Afghanistan's Kabul airport, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said on June 25. 

Turkey will not send additional troops to Afghanistan as part of a plan to run and secure Kabul's airport following the U.S. and NATO pull-out from the country, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was cited as saying on June 23. 

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener on June 23 objected to a proposal by the Turkish government for the deployment of troops to secure the Kabul airport of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of NATO forces in the war-torn country.

A technical delegation from the United States Department of Defense will visit Turkey on June 24 to discuss the activities for keeping the Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan operational.

Turkey proposed to secure and manage the airport in Kabul after the NATO troops end its mission as a Resolute Support Mission.

The United States on June 17 hailed a commitment by Turkey to secure Kabul's airport, addressing one key area of concern amid fears the government will collapse once U.S. forces leave.

The agreement is likely to mark a new warming of U.S. relations with Turkey, a NATO ally whose relations had been fraught with President Joe Biden's five-month-old administration.

Ambassador Hakan Tekin, director general for South Asia at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, met Massoum Stanekzai, the Afghan government's top peace broker, in the Qatari capital Doha on June 8. 

According to a statement by the negotiating team in Kabul, Stanekzai and Tekin discussed ways and means to expedite the stalled peace drive.