And why it's dangerous for Russia
Turkey and Qatar plan to operate five airports in Afghanistan, including Kabul. This was announced by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. According to the Turkish foreign minister, the parties plan to discuss this issue with the Taliban leadership on December 22 (the organization is under UN sanctions, it is recognized as terrorist in Russia, its activities are prohibited).
Kabul airport during the Taliban attack on the city. Photo: dvidshub.net
After severe damage in the evacuation of thousands of people from Afghanistan and the explosion on August 26, Ankara and Doha helped restore operations to Kabul International Airport. Recently, the countries announced their intention to continue cooperating on the operation of the air port.
Such a “friendship” is in a way beneficial for both the Turks and Afghanistan, said military expert Yuri Lyamin. The same cannot be said of Russia.
– The Taliban's interest in this is obvious. After the departure of the Americans and the raid of many specialists trained by them, there was a serious shortage of technology and personnel in the airport services sector. Of course, they would like the help from Turkey and Qatar very much now. This is also important for the general population, because the delivery of humanitarian aid depends on the operation of airports. The country is inland and all shipments are made by air.
– Turkey and Qatar, on the one hand, need it for political weight. Show that they support you. Here the Americans left everything and left, but Turkey remained and provided aid. They need to define a place, to put it bluntly, to continue to have influence in Afghanistan. And to demonstrate their goodwill to the whole world.
– As all flights from Turkey to Afghanistan are still operated via other countries, it all depends on the agreement with these countries.
– For Russia, the mere fact of strengthening Turkey in the region is not, of course, the best scenario for events. The struggle for influence in Afghanistan between the countries will intensify in the coming years. He will most likely be quiet, but he will walk. Roman Silantyev, a Russian religionist, historian of religion and Islamic scholar, professor at the Department of World Culture at Moscow State Linguistic University, agrees with the military expert.
– Turkey, which has won the support of its longtime ally Qatar, wants to expand its influence and become a major Muslim country, it seems to me. Saudi Arabia has now fallen sharply in this regard, and Turkey can easily claim to be the main center not only of the Turkish nations but also of the main Muslim countries. By the way, once in the format of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey was like that and Islam was associated mainly with Istanbul and Turkey. Afghanistan was once part of its sphere of influence. Erdogan wants to revive the Ottoman Empire, this can be seen with the naked eye.
This is definitely not good for us. Turkey is not our friend. As we remember, the history of relations with the Ottoman Empire in Russia was mainly military. We haven't fought with anyone as often as we have, and it's possible that it may happen again.