Turkey

ANKARA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Turkey will not help run Kabul airport after NATO's withdrawal unless the Taliban agree to a Turkish security presence, two officials told Reuters after deadly attacks outside the airport highlighted the perils of any such mission.

The Taliban have asked Turkey for technical help to run the airport after next Tuesday's deadline for all foreign military forces to pull out of Afghanistan, an ultimatum they say applies equally to Turkish troops.

27 Aug 2021; MEMO: Turkey has not made a final decision on a Taliban request for support to run Kabul airport after foreign forces withdraw over security concerns and uncertainty there, President Tayyip Erdogan said today, adding talks were still underway.

26 Aug 2021; MEMO: Turkish presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, suggested that Ankara could remain in Afghanistan to provide technical support to the Taliban to operate the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul after Turkish troops leave the country.

"After our troops withdraw, we could continue this operational task at the airport there. If it is agreed in the terms and an agreement is reached in this direction, we will continue to provide this service there," Kalin said.

ANKARA, Aug 25 (Reuters) - The Taliban have asked Turkey for technical help to run Kabul airport after the departure of foreign forces but insist that Ankara's military also withdraw fully by the end-August deadline, two Turkish officials told Reuters.

The conditional request by the Islamist Taliban, who swept back to power in Afghanistan 20 years after they were ousted in a U.S. invasion, leaves Ankara with a difficult decision over whether to accept a hazardous job, one official said.

25 Aug 2021; MEMO: South Sudan's defense minister yesterday said that Turkey has agreed to strengthen and support the unification of forces after years of conflict in the African state, Anadolu Agency reports.

24 Aug 2021; MEMO: Turkish media says that a suspect, arrested for starting forest fires in the Akseki and Manavgat districts of the southern Turkish province of Antalya, was paid by unknown people to commit the arson.

According to reports, one eyewitness, a voice recording from the suspect's girlfriend implicates him in the fires.

23 Aug 2021; MEMO: Turkey cannot bear the burden of a new wave of migrants, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned yesterday.

"Turkey is currently hosting around five million refugees," Erdogan told European Council President, Charles Michel, stressing that his country could not "support an additional migratory burden."

"You cannot expect Turkey to take on the responsibility of third countries," he said.

22 Aug 2021; MEMO: Some 357 people, including 16 infants, evacuated from Afghanistan's capital Kabul arrived in Istanbul on Sunday, rpeorts Anadolu Agency.

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

"There was complete chaos at the Kabul airport. We had a very difficult time getting out of there. I am just so glad to be in Turkey," Ersin Karaduman, owner of a construction firm in Afghanistan, told reporters in Istanbul.

HANGEDIGI, Turkey (AP) — From above, the new border wall separating Turkey from Iran looks like a white snake winding through the barren hills. So far it only covers a third of the 540-kilometer (335-mile) border, leaving plenty of gaps for migrants to slip across in the dead of night.

Traffic on this key migration route from central Asia to Europe has remained relatively stable compared to previous years. But European countries, as well as Turkey, fear the sudden return of Taliban rule in Afghanistan could change that.

21 Aug 2021; MEMO: Some 160 people, including Turkish citizens and foreign nationals, evacuated from Afghanistan's capital Kabul arrived in Istanbul on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reported.

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

The Turkish citizens among the evacuees have been directed to quarantine at their homes, while the foreign nationals have been placed in hotels.