Turkish Military Presence in Afghanistan after 2001

After September 11, upon the request of the USA, Turkey opened eight air bases, including Incirlik, within the scope of collective defense within the framework of the decision taken in NATO, and actively supported the Northern Alliance in the fight against the Taliban. Since no actual force was requested from Turkey at the beginning of the operation, it shared intelligence with the coalition forces.

During this period, Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, who wrote a letter to President Bush on September 22, 2001, officially declared that Turkey would support the US's fight against terrorism. Four days later, as of September 26, 2001, Turkish airspace was opened for use by American aircraft within the scope of the Afghanistan intervention. In this context, it was expressed to the American side to use Turkish airports, ports and highways, to provide intelligence and logistic support, to provide refueling and ground support services at Incirlik Base, and to provide personnel support when necessary. In this general window, Incirlik Air Base continued to be used by American aircraft and personnel for 20 years within the scope of activities carried out within ISAF in Afghanistan.

Turkey, Australia and Canada, apart from the USA and England, which started the operation in Afghanistan, announced that they would send soldiers, and France and Italy stated that they were at the decision stage. As of November 1, 2001, Turkey officially announced its decision to send soldiers. The Prime Minister of the time, Ecevit, preferred to compare Turkey's decision to send troops to the Afghanistan operation with the three events in the history of the Republic, with the decision to send troops to Korea, to join NATO and to intervene in Cyprus. The Turkish Government has taken this decision as a country that has spent the last 15 years in the environment of the fight against terrorism and its call for solidarity to its allies has been largely rejected. According to Ankara, by sending troops to Afghanistan, Turkey has shown the importance it attaches to the international fight against terrorism and has earned the right to expect the same for itself.

The Turkish Government of the period submitted the Afghanistan resolution, which it sent to the Parliament, to the vote in October 2001. The Assembly accepted the motion with 319 votes to 100. Two months later, in December 2001, the United Nations Security Council decided to create an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Turkey has also contributed to ISAF, which started to work under the leadership of England on January 16, 2002, and continued until 2021 with active support in this way.

for the US operations in Afghanistan; Dealing with the infrastructure of international terrorism, eliminating the threat of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, solving the security problems caused by a state like Afghanistan, which is now understood to be a 'failed' state, establishing a safe corridor for Central Asian oil and natural gas to reach international markets, Pakistan and controlling Iran, keeping Russia away from this region as much as possible, and preventing the drug trade.

From time to time the USA; There has been a search for troops to contribute to the Afghanistan operation. In this context, there have been requests from Turkey to increase force by “pressing” by using NATO platforms and bilateral relations. As an argument, it was argued that Turkey had a large army and it was emphasized that sending a few battalions to Afghanistan should not be a problem for Turkey. In response, Turkey stated that Turkey has been fighting against terrorism alone for years, that the amount of personnel and materials allocated to NATO is as much as the amount of US troops in the entire Middle East, and that it would not be possible to send more troops under the current conditions. Despite this, the demand for force from Turkey continued at every stage and on every occasion.

In line with the request and direction of the USA, ISAF forces from 42 countries, consisting of NATO members and partners, to serve in Afghanistan in coordination with the American forces, on 16 April 2003, in order to strengthen the military character of NATO, in order to ensure security and stability in Afghanistan. decided. Turkey's NATO and Afghanistan policies were guiding in this decision. Thus, since 11 August 2003, NATO has become an active part of the Afghanistan operation.

The United States has made great efforts to combine the "Permanent Freedom" operation, which it is carrying out under its control, with ISAF in Afghanistan. Because he calculated that an operation he did alone in this way would turn into a NATO operation and wanted to consolidate its legitimacy. Turkey opposed this idea, expressed by the USA on NATO platforms, for two reasons:

1)       The two operations are different from each other. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) needs to take a new resolution in order for the unification decision to take place. No decision to merge 

n, in the current situation, it is not possible to combine two separate operations that operate with two different resolutions of the UNSC.

2)       If these two operations are combined, NATO forces will also have to carry out counter-terrorism and anti-drug operations. This will create a situation contrary to the decisions taken by NATO's political authorities and the operation plan approved by these authorities for Afghanistan (Actually, Turkey's stance was not to use its own soldiers in combat missions and not to involve them in the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan).

After the exchange of views between NATO political and military authorities, as a result of the NATO legal adviser's opinion in favor of the legal validity of the Turkish view, it was decided that these two operations would continue separately, as a few more countries along with the Germans adopted a similar attitude to Turkey. Afterwards, upon the joint acceptance that the coordination of these two operations carried out in the same region was a military need, the problem was resolved by establishing a liaison team to work with a US general for coordination.

The Afghanistan operation was supported by many countries such as EU member states, Russia, China, India and Australia. However, these countries, realizing that the Americans would stay in Afghanistan for a long time, tried to take part in the operation from their own windows and to get involved in Afghanistan in the following years. China, one of these countries, interpreted this situation as a move to contain itself and to suppress it militarily. In the early 2000s, China saw the converging maneuvers of Russia and the Central Asian republics with the West as a development that would weaken the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and harm itself. Similarly, Iran, which initially supported the USA by seeing the overthrow of the Taliban as positive for itself, started to feel uncomfortable being neighbors with the Americans. While cooperating with the American presence in Afghanistan, Pakistan sought to develop measures to prevent the terrorists, including al-Qaeda, who fled from Afghanistan from messing with its own country. India, on the other hand, continued to be content with the thought that Pakistan would suffer from this.

In this context, the US-led coalition acted together with the Northern Alliance (Uzbek, Tajik, Turkmen, etc. groups) since the Operation Enduring Freedom process. The Pashtuns, who make up the majority of Afghanistan, did not show a willing stance to side with the United States to the extent desired. For this reason, the forces participating in this operation were perceived by some circles as an anti-Pashtun, "infidel" occupation force. The fact that Muslim countries other than Turkey were not included in the coalition fed this perception.

Turkey has sought to follow a policy to side with Afghanistan within the framework of NATO and bilateral relations with the USA. Meanwhile, Hikmet Çetin, one of the former Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, was selected as NATO's Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan with the joint decision of NATO members and successfully served in this region from January 2004 until August 2006.

At the Strasbourg-Kehl NATO Summit held in April 2009, the request of US President Obama, which planned to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan to 100,000 in 2010, was accepted. Turkey, France and Germany have stated that they can provide support within the scope of "civil aid" and "training of Afghan soldiers" to support the decision taken at the same Summit, rather than sending soldiers. After the summit, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoğlu also declared that it would be out of the question for Turkey to send 'combat soldiers' to Afghanistan.

As part of the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, he assumed the role and responsibility of the Framework Country in Kabul. Other framework countries in Afghanistan were Germany in the north, the USA in the south and east, and Italy in the west. Turkey also assumed the responsibility of security and operation of Hamid Karzai International Airport. Turkey's responsibility in Kabul was completed as of August 15, 2021, and Turkish soldiers in Afghanistan (648 soldiers in total) returned to Turkey by air, with a return transfer between 26-31 August 2021.

After the UK handed over its leadership at the end of the first term of ISAF, Turkey; Between June 2002 and February 2003, he led the second period of the operation with 1,300 personnel. The ISAF mission, which was limited to Kabul until October 2003, has since been expanded to cover all of Afghanistan.

PRT application has been a new concept for Turkey. In terms of aiding the civilian population and the reconstruction of the country, it required direct contact with the Afghans of the Turkish Armed Forces and support elements. In a sense, these teams functioned as "contractor protection association". Western countries invest in the field of their own investors. 

They have developed a method that will ensure the safety of aki in this way. It has been adopted that PRTs are formed from soldiers. The only difference was the use of lightly armored jeeps instead of armored vehicles. The duty of the military forces in the region is defined as providing the necessary security to the PRTs. In this context, five new PRTs were established in Afghanistan. It was established under the control of northern countries, including one Turkish, one Italian and one England.

Prof. dr. According to Ümit Özdağ, “Afghanistan has always been a country within Turkey's perception of national security. Just before the start of the US operation in Afghanistan, Turkey had the chance to settle in Afghanistan politically and militarily, and to renew the strategy of the Central Asian Turkic Republics, especially by obtaining an active position in Northern Afghanistan. In a sense, this meant using the US strategy in favor of Turkey.” (Ozdag, 2004, p.11).

Under the influence of similar evaluations, it assumed the 2nd term command of ISAF between 20 June 2002 and 10 February 2003 (Cumhuriyet, 2005, p.8). In subsequent assignments, Turkey continued to be a part of ISAF with the participation of troops.

According to NATO sources, the command of ISAF between 2005 and 2007 was decided to be carried out by Turkey, Italy, England and Spain in 6-8 month periods, respectively (Akşam, 2005, p.12). Thus, with rotational planning, countries have actively maintained NATO's presence in Afghanistan (Tercüman, 2005, p.12).

From February 13, 2005 until August of the same year, Turkey assumed the leadership of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)-VII, in which a total of 8 thousand personnel, 1,421 of whom were Turkish, were assigned from 30 countries. The 3rd Corps Headquarters stationed in Ayazağa/Istanbul, which took over the command of this force from the European Corps (EUROCORPS), was transferred to Afghanistan under the command of Lieutenant General Ethem Erdağı. In the same period, Kabul International Airport was also operated by the Turkish union. After completing the task, Turkey handed over the command to Italy.

In addition, the Kabul Multinational Brigade formed a Turkish Brigade Headquarters. The command and operating responsibility of the Kabul International Airport was also taken over by the Turkish Armed Forces. Turkey, which had a company in Afghanistan since the beginning of the International Security Assistance Force Operation, sent another battalion to the region as a sudden intervention unit. In addition, three general-purpose helicopters previously allocated to the International Security Assistance Force VII. remained in the region throughout the period. In addition, significant logistics and training support was provided to Afghanistan. 12 Turkish officers were appointed as teachers to the Afghan Military Academy.

Meanwhile, Turkey assumed the leadership of the Kabul Regional Command, one of the six regional commands of ISAF, which was established together with France and Italy in 2006 and assumed responsibility for a period of six months in 2007. The responsibility of this Command has been fully embraced by Turkey as of November 1, 2009 and this task was continued until the end of 2014. In addition to two Turkish maneuver battalions, Albanian, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian and Georgian elements served within the scope of the Kabul Regional Command, which was formed as a brigade. This command has contributed to the security and development of Kabul and its environs, which is the political, cultural and economic center of Afghanistan and has a population of close to five million.

In addition, the Turkish Armed Forces provided military consultancy support to the main headquarters of the UN Afghanistan Assistance Mission in Kabul between 2012 and 2015. Turkish soldiers did not undertake combat missions during their time in Afghanistan. He mainly worked in fields such as military training, consultancy and health. In this context, TAF; He took an active responsibility in providing basic training to the Afghan army personnel at the Gazi Military Training Center, which he opened in Kabul. Turkey established the Afghanistan Military High School and contributed to the training of the Military Academy, Staff College, Police Force and Central Division units with its advisors. In the meantime, many Afghan police and soldiers have received the necessary training in security-related institutions in Turkey.

Undertaking the responsibility of the Cevizcan and Wardak Regional Reconstruction Teams, Turkey provided support to the people of the region in these regions. Since 12 November 2006, approximately 50 Turkish personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, TIKA, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, TAF and General Directorate of Security and other agencies have served in the Wardak Turkish reconstruction team. The Cevizcan reconstruction team in Mezar-ı Şerif was deployed in Şibirgan district on 12 July 2011 and around 100 Turkish personnel worked in the team. Dozens of important infrastructure, education, agriculture and social responsibility projects have been successfully accomplished with the contributions of both development teams.

After ISAF ended in December 2014 

In January 2015, the UN Security Council launched the Resolute Support Mission (RSM), which aims to support the non-combatant Afghan military. As part of the withdrawal of American and NATO forces from Afghanistan on 15 August 2021, this mission has been terminated. TAF personnel were also transferred back.

In this context, the duties of the TAF are as follows:

1)       Kabul Training, Aid and Advisory Command

2)       Hamid Karzai International Airport operation and force protection services,

3)       Personnel support to the Northern Training, Assistance and Advisory Command,

4)       Personnel support to KDM Headquarters.

In summary, around 20 thousand Turkish soldiers served in Afghanistan for about 20 years. During this time, a total of 15 soldiers were martyred.

1) In 2009, a staff colonel and a specialist sergeant were martyred in a traffic accident, returning from a visit to the Turkish unit in Mezar-i Sharif.

2)       Nine officers, two non-commissioned officers and one expert were martyred as a result of the crash of a Sikorsky type helicopter belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces near Kabul on March 16, 2012.

3) On February 26, 2015, a soldier was martyred after the Taliban targeted a vehicle belonging to the Turkish Embassy.

Conclusion

The terrorist attacks that took place in the USA on September 11, 2001 constituted a new turning point for NATO. Following the attacks, NATO invoked Article 5 of the Washington Treaty for the first time in the history of the Alliance on September 12, 2001, on the basis of the consensus of all Allies, to demonstrate Allied solidarity with the United States. Within the framework of this decision, Turkey took an active role in non-combatant civil and military missions in the Afghanistan operation.

When we look at the Afghanistan operation as of 2022 from the point of view of the USA, it is useful to make a brief assessment. The USA settled in this country in the last quarter of 2001 with the main idea of ​​preventing Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist base. Terrorism has been brought under control to a certain extent, and it has been successful in this respect. The al-Qaeda elements, which were initially determined as the target, have been largely cleared from Afghanistan. Its leader, Osama bin Laden, was killed. However, the fight against the Taliban, which gave al-Qaeda a living space before 2021, was not very successful as expected. Perhaps no great effort has been made in this direction. The USA tried to make regime change in Afghanistan and to create a new society (social engineering) according to the requirements of democratic life, with its close associates like Karzai and Gani, but it was unsuccessful. In a sense, the Taliban and the United States were drawn under the control of Afghanistan. England between 1763-1919, Russia between 1955-1989 and the USA from the same period to 2021 showed that Afghanistan is a 'hell' for the great powers. In addition, evaluations have been made that the American trace will continue to remain in Afghan policy from 2022 through various means.

Here, it is useful to briefly touch upon the US struggle in Afghanistan. It is known that the influence of the US arms companies and even tried some weapon systems in Afghanistan, and that they had the opportunity to develop weapons in the field by having their civilian experts/engineers in this country. In addition, the United States has shown the unipolarity and hegemony approach that it has been trying to build since the 1990s, as a tactical power projection in Afghanistan as of 2001. He did the same in 2003 in Iraq. Although the policy and leadership reflected by the US presidents of the period are considered important in such decisions, it has been read that the Afghanistan operation, which has a complementary role to the general US grand strategy, also serves the general strategy of containment of China and Russia. Meanwhile, the USA; Seeing the policies and approaches of the NATO allies, including Turkey, that are in the transatlantic ties, and the countries it considers allies, including Turkey, seeing the countries that support or hinder global issues from the perspective of the USA, and in this context, who can walk together in maintaining the unipolarity and hegemony, which is the grand strategy of it. given the opportunity to see It has been stated in various analyzes that the USA has started to give priority to the rising Chinese 'threat' since 2015. In this context, the United States did not hesitate to make pragmatist departures from the regions, which it considered less important, if the cost of being there is too high in terms of the benefits it brings, in a sense, from a capitalist point of view, which finds it more appropriate to withdraw. This was also true in Afghanistan.

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