Afghanistan–United States relations

Foreign ministers of NATO will be discussing the situation on Afghanistan and make assessment of their future relations with the Taliban on Friday.

This will happen in video conference for coordination on ongoing evacuation efforts also will be mentioned.

The situation in Afghanistan is complex, and Bulgaria's immediate top priority is to evacuate its citizens from the country, said Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Svetlan Stoev during the Emergency EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

The U.K.'s foreign secretary praised Turkey late on Aug. 19 for helping to secure Kabul airport and said the British and Turkish governments are working closely to ensure that evacuations of their citizens as well as Afghan nationals continue safely.   

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Turkey helped a number of senior former Afghan government officials leave the country after the capital Kabul fell to the Taliban.

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As the turmoil gripped the country, Ankara made arrangements to repatriate Turkish citizens from Afghanistan.

As part of those plans, a plane belonging to Turkish Airlines was dispatched to Kabul to airlift Turkish citizens.

Turkey is ready if needed to hold talks with representatives of the Taliban movement when they form the government, President Tayyip Erdogan told a news conference in Ankara on Thursday.

"Since our aim is to ensure stability and security in Afghanistan - TASS, we will, if necessary, discuss our common agenda with that government that the Taliban will form," Erdogan said.

US President Joe Biden has said US troops may stay in Afghanistan beyond his withdrawal deadline, as armed Taliban fighters kept desperate evacuees from reaching Kabul's airport.

Mr Biden wants US forces out by the end of this month, but up to 15,000 US citizens are stranded in the country.

The US president told in tv interview the turmoil in Kabul was unavoidable.

President Joe Biden said on Aug. 18 it had been impossible to leave Afghanistan without chaos, as the United States pleaded with the victorious Taliban to allow safe passage for people to flee.

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Turkey's foreign minister on Aug. 18 discussed the latest situation in Afghanistan with his Russian, South Korean, Chinese, Tajik and Australian counterparts, according to diplomatic sources.

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Turkey is ready for any kind of cooperation for the comfort of the Afghan people, well-being of its Turkish kin and protection of its interests in Afghanistan, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, stressing the continued military presence of the Turkish troops at Kabul airport will be to the benefit of the new Afghan administration.

Turkey has taken all necessary measures for the safety of the Turkish troops based in the Kabul international airport, the defense minister has said, informing that they are ready to implement contingency plans if the conditions in the field change in Afghanistan.

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