Afghanistan

Western nations warned their citizens on Aug. 26 to immediately leave the surrounds of Kabul airport over a terrorist threat, as thousands of people try to reach a dwindling number of evacuation flights.

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Afghanistan is the hot news on everybody's foreign policy agenda right now and the ramifications of the debacle are being felt far and wide.

Take for example the Balkans, where there are three key impacts.

The first concerns Balkan countries providing housing to Afghans who collaborated with the US.

Although both sides say they want a solution through negotiations, there is no progress when it comes to the fate of that strategic area, which is the biggest point of resistance to the Taliban who took control of Afghanistan.

While the Turkish opposition has been using public unhappiness over rising numbers of refugees from Afghanistan and other countries to challenge President Erdogan's government, xenophobic violence has also been increasing.

Brussels – The EU maintains that the Union and the countries which have taken part in the NATO mission in Afghanistan have a duty to take care of the Afghans at risk following the Taliban seizure of the country, the European Commission’s spokesperson Eric Mamer said on Tuesday when asked to comment on PM Janez Janša’s recent statement.

In a conversation with Russia Today, Jim Laurie said that it was over now and that many Afghans, who were promised to be evacuated because they worked for American troops, would be left in the lurch.

Turkish soldiers are assisting people at the Kabul airport in ensuring their safe departure from Afghanistan, and an "Ankara headquarters" has been established to coordinate with those leaving the war-torn country.

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Some 357 people, including 16 infants, evacuated from Afghanistan's capital Kabul arrived in Istanbul on Aug. 22. 

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They were first taken to Pakistan on a Turkish Air Force transport plane and then brought to Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight.

President Joe Biden said on Aug. 22 the U.S.-led evacuation of Americans, at-risk Afghans and others from the Kabul airport picked up speed this weekend, although it remains vulnerable to threats posed by the Islamic State extremist group.

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As many as 104 more Turkish nationals were flown out from Afghanistan's capital in a C-130 transport aircraft of the Turkish Air Force on Aug. 20. 

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Efforts to evacuate Turkish citizens from the war-torn country continue at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, and the citizens were rescued by Turkish security forces from areas in central Kabul.