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US, Turkey disagree on how to train Afghan personnel
It has emerged that the disagreement is not new and is one of the main reasons why Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Aslan Güner accompanied Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during this week’s visit to Washington with a file detailing Turkey’s contributions in Afghanistan.
The level of Turkish troops in Afghanistan has increased from 750 to around 1,800 in line with Turkey’s one-year term heading the Kabul Regional Command for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which began on Oct. 31.
“At the moment, we have done what we can,” Erdoğan said ahead of his departure for Washington, adding that Turkey could train the Afghan army and police if needed, but signaling Turkey’s unwillingness to respond positively to an official US request for the contribution of further troops and more flexibility on the Afghanistan mission.
The issue was brought to the agenda during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels earlier this month which was attended by both US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.
On her way to Brussels, Clinton said the United States wants NATO to contribute both combat troops and trainers for the Afghan army. But she noted that the distinction between the two was becoming less meaningful under the strategy devised by the American commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal. “There are people who will do what we think of as training -- you know, ‘Here’s how you load your weapon’,” Clinton said, “But we’ve got to bring the Afghan security forces into the fight.”
At the NATO meeting, US officials informed their Turkish counterparts that they had specifically asked that Turkey train Afghan forces on the ground. However, Turkey has told the United States that such a request is no different from sending in combat troops, to which Ankara is firmly opposed.
NATO allies have said they will bolster the American troop surge in Afghanistan by sending at least 7,000 soldiers of their own. Adm. James Stavridis, the top NATO and US commander in Europe, said in an Associated Press interview that he expects several thousand more non-US troops might be added to the 7,000.
“What we are all underlining to potential troop contributors is that we are truly asking for emphasis in the training area,” Stavridis said.
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