Turkey said Wednesday that it had decided to re-open two diplomatic missions in Afghanistan after the Afghan opposition captured the country's capital, Kabul, from the hardline Taliban militia.
"In the light of the recent developments in Afghanistan, the necessary procedures have been initiated for our embassy in Kabul and general consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif to be re-opened," the foreign ministry said in a brief statement.
Turkey closed down its embassy in the Afghan capital when the Taliban forces captured the city in 1996, while the Turkish consulate general in Mazar-i-Sharif was closed when the Taliban took it over in 1997.
Turkey, the only Muslim member of NATO, has given full support to the US-led drive against terrorism and has said that the operation in Afghanistan should continue until the Taliban militia are ousted from power.
Ankara announced earlier this month that it would send some 90 elite soldiers to Afghanistan on a US request for support in military and humanitarian missions -- AFP
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
