President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lauded Turkish troops stationed in Afghanistan for their efforts in maintaining peace and stability in the volatile country during his visit to Camp Dogan in Kabul Saturday.
Camp Dogan is name of the Turkish military unit in Kabul where the troops are stationed. It is linked with the UN Security Council mission in Afghanistan that aims to train the Afghan security forces.
Addressing the Turkish troops, Erdogan said: "You have established a peaceful environment in Afghanistan just like you did in your previous missions in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon and Somalia."
He said the Turkish Army was one of the world's largest and most ancient army. The president expressed his confidence in the ability of his troops to fulfill their duties professionally.
According to the website of the International Security Assistance Force and NATO, Turkey currently has 393 troops in Afghanistan out of the total 41,124 international soldiers from 48 countries stationed there as of Sept. 3, 2014.
Erdogan said the crescent and star of the Turkish flag represented peace, solidarity and brotherhood, and the Turkish troops were doing their duty to ensure all that in Afghanistan.
He said the Turkish Armed Forces had also played a key role in helping the refugees from the Syrian town of Kobani.
More than 170,000 people have crossed into Turkey from Kobani since mid-September when the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant besieged it.
Erdogan, who arrived in Afghanistan earlier Saturday, had also given a joint press briefing with Afghanistan’s newly elected President Ashraf Ghani before he went to the camp.
He said in the briefing that Turkey, along with the U.S., Germany and Italy, would be one of the four NATO countries that would continue to support the development of the Afghan National Security Forces.
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