Turkey should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan under the 2020 agreement regarding the withdrawal of foreign forces, the Taliban spokesman warned, rejecting Ankara’s proposal to guard and operate Kabul airport after the departure of NATO forces led by the United States.

This development belies Ankara’s hopes of using its forces to guard Kabul airport to help improve relations with Washington, which are quite strained by the S-400 purchase.

“Turkey has been part of NATO forces for the last 20 years, therefore, they should withdraw from Afghanistan under the agreement we signed with the US on February 29th, 2020,” Suhail Shaheen told Reuters.

“Otherwise they’ll find us against them. Turkey is a major Islamic country Afghanistan has had historical relations with. We hope to have close and good relations with Turkey because in the future a new Islamic government will be established in the country,” the Taliban spokesman added.