Turkey attacked the least in ISAF

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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A top U.S. general says violence has reached on all-time high in Afghanistan, but Turkey's foreign minister said Saturday that his troops have suffered only one attack in almost four years, the Associated Press reported.

Turkey, the Muslim nation with the highest number of troops and civilian workers in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, has some 800 troops in the country. A separate team of about 140 civilians carries out aid projects in a violent province just west of Kabul, a region where U.S. troops have faced dozens of attacks this year.

But Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Turkish troops and civilians face little danger here because of the relations that Turkish citizens have built with Afghans. The fact that the two countries share a common religion plays a part but is not the only reason, he said.

"If you give confidence to the people that you are here for civilian purposes, not just for security and you are not ... seeing them as a threat, this physical relationship is very important," he told The Associated Press in an interview. "We shouldn't give the impression to the people of Afghanistan that we see (them) as a possible threat."

The Turkish provincial reconstruction team based in the capital of Wardak province conducts reading, writing and computer courses for women. Turkey has also built 42 schools and about 25 hospitals in Afghanistan, Davutoğlu said. Davutoğlu’s advice to U.S. and other NATO nations seeking to tamp down rising violence in their regions of Afghanistan: ramp up nonmilitary projects.

"We see nonmilitary measures as important, even more important than the military and security issues," he said. "Sustainability of security could be achieved only through economic development, political stability and cultural coexistence."

The NATO-led force has a network of provincial reconstruction teams around the country manned by various countries. The teams concentrate on aid and construction projects.

Militant attacks have risen steadily in the last three years and have reached a new high. U.S. Gen. David Petraeus said Afghanistan saw 400 insurgent attacks during the first week of June. In comparison, there were less than 50 attacks per week in January 2004.

Pledging more support

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu wrapped up a visit to Afghanistan on Saturday, pledging more support for the nation, including the term of Turkey's presidency of the U.N Security Council, reported Agence France-Presse.

Davutoğlu met President Hamid Karzai during his visit to Afghanistan, where Turkey has around 800 soldiers in a NATO-led military force, as well as his Afghan counterpart Rangin Dadfar Spanta.

"We will continue our support of Afghanistan," he told a press conference with Spanta. "We will support Afghanistan during our presidency of the UN Security Council," he said through a translator. As part of his talks in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Davutoğlu met Saturday two Afghan presidential candidates who will appear on the ballot this August, The Anatolia new agency reported.

Davutoğlu met former Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, who are considered the strongest challengers of President Hamid Karzai. Turkey plans to host two international gatherings in the coming months aimed at boosting support for conflict-torn Pakistan and Afghanistan. The first, planned for September, would bring together the Friends of Pakistan group. In November, Turkey will host a meeting of countries neighboring Afghanistan to discuss how to help the war-ravaged country. Turkey has since 2007 hosted three meetings between presidents to encourage them to overcome their differences.