Announcement from U.S. national security adviser: Erdogan and Biden have agreed

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan has announced that U.S. President Joe Biden and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have agreed that Turkey would ensure security at Kabul airport.

President Erdogan and US President Joe Biden held both bilateral and inter-delegation talks at the NATO leaders’ summit on June 14 in Brussels, the Belgian capital. The two leaders said the meeting had been in a positive mood.

In a statement, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced that during his meeting with Biden, Erdogan agreed that Turkey would ensure the security of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, the Afghan capital.

Biden had pledged U.S. support for airport security, Sullivan said. He added that no solution had yet been found for the problem of S400 air defense systems that Turkey had purchased from Russia, and negotiations on this issue would continue.

Airport security is key to the operation of diplomatic missions due to the withdrawal of the United States and Western powers from Afghanistan.

Sullivan said, “Of course, we take the concern that the Taliban or other elements in Afghanistan will attack international forces, seriously” although a Taliban spokesman said last week that Turkey should also withdraw its troops from Afghanistan as a result of the agreement reached with the United States. We do not believe that what the Taliban have said publicly will hinder or deter efforts currently being undertaken to establish this security presence.”