Turkish army, citizens out of Kabul: President Erdoğan

ANKARA

Turkey has pulled out all its civilians and military from Afghanistan except for a small number of technicians, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Aug. 28.

“We transported our citizens to our country. Currently we have a small number of technical elements. Apart from this, we have withdrawn all our teams,” Erdoğan told a news conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

“Countries that say they are the strongest in the world should leave the places they enter much more carefully," he said. “Leaving these countries by handing them over to terrorist organizations has a high cost.”

Erdoğan's remarks came during his one-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo.

"Unfortunately, the world, along with Afghanistan, is now locked on a single spot," Erdoğan noted.

He said, "Countries that say are the strongest in the world ... should have withdrawn (from countries they entered) more sensitively and cautiously," adding: "These withdrawals did not happen as they said. Unfortunately, withdrawing from these countries by handing them over to terrorist organizations produces heavy consequences."

He also noted that Turkey will discuss future steps and plans on NATO's position on Afghanistan.

“The evacuation of heroic Turkish Armed Forces personnel, who successfully performed their duty in Afghanistan for 20 years, has been completed,” the Turkish National Defense Ministry tweeted late Friday.

The Turkish president on Friday arrived in Sarajevo, the first stop on his western Balkan mini-tour visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Montenegro.

Turkish president arrives in Montenegro as part of mini-Balkans tour

Meanwhile, Erdoğan on Aug. 29 arrived in Montenegro's capital Podgorica, the second stop on his mini-tour of two Western Balkan countries.

He will meet Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic in the city of Cetinje, the former royal capital of Montenegro.

Later, Erdoğan is scheduled to meet with Montenegrin Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic.

This is Erdoğan's first-ever official visit to the small Balkan country.