Updated December 21st, 2021 at 07:32 IST

Turkey, Qatar firms ink deal to control five airports in Afghanistan: Report

After negotiations between Doha and Kabul, Qatar and Turkey will probably control five airports together in Afghanistan, said the Turkish Foreign Minister.

Reported by: Ajeet Kumar
Image: AP | Image:self
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Even after months of obtaining leadership roles in Afghanistan, the incumbent government is facing hardship to run the airports, ANI reported citing local media reports. According to a report by Khaama Press, Turkey and Qatar will reportedly manage at least five major airports of Afghanistan. However, the final deal will be finalised following a discussion with Kabul and Doha.
Citing Turkish Foreign Minister Mevult Cavusoglu, Khamma Press said  Turkish Foreign Minister Mevult Cavusoglu a delegation including a technical team of the two countries are supposed to visit Afghanistan in the next few days. Notably, Cavsuoglu was speaking with his Malaysian counterpart in Islamabad on Monday when he revealed the ongoing deal with the war-torn country.

Further, the minister said the technical team from both nations will assess the requirement of the five major airports. It is worth mentioning the condition of Afghanistan has already been facing an acute shortage of all kinds of resources when the Taliban fighters ousted the democratically elected government and took over the country in mid-August this year. The condition deteriorated further and now the country is more or less dependent on humanitarian assistance offered by international communities. With such a grave condition, it seems next to impossible for the all-men government to run the airports of the country, Khamma Press reported.

Recommendations of the delegation will be submitted to the Taliban

The report also emphasised the post-US troops killing. The media report highlighted how the August 26 attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport left the airport heavily damaged with the marks of bullets on the walls. Subsequently, the destroyed airport was then repaired by a Qatari technical team, as per Khaama Press. Meanwhile, the local media report claimed that the recommendations of the delegation will be submitted to the Taliban by next week. Some media reports also claimed Kabul International Airport is among the five airports, however, the names of all the airports are not disclosed yet. Earlier, the extremist organisation had asked Turkey and Qatar to take authority over Kabul International Airport but Turkey had presented to send their own protection personnel with a technical team. However, the Taliban government had denied the request. It is still not clear whether the Taliban will allow the security forces of Turkey to Kabul or not, reported Khaama Press.

With inputs from ANI

Image: AP

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Published December 21st, 2021 at 07:32 IST