Foreign Ministry spokesperson Burak Özügergin, speaking to reporters at a weekly press briefing on Wednesday, identified the soldiers as Col. Faruk Sungur, commander of the Turkish forces in Afghanistan, and Sgt. Mevlüt Baydur.
Another colonel, Murat Kaymakçılar, and Sgt. Fehmi Berkyürek, who were in the same car, were wounded, Özügergin said, adding that an ambulance plane would fly to Afghanistan later on Wednesday in order to bring the dead bodies and the wounded soldiers home.
As of Wednesday, there was no detailed information about how the accident, which is reported to have taken place in Faryab province, happened. Kaymakçılar was the head of a Turkish unit that has been stationed in Mazar-i Sharif since July 12 to maintain security in the run-up to the upcoming presidential election on Aug. 20.
Turkey, the Muslim nation with the highest number of troops and civilian workers in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), 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 US troops have faced dozens of attacks this year.
Özügergin, meanwhile, pledged Ankara's continued support for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, while also voicing appreciation and gratitude towards members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).
“TSK members have been assigned in a lot of regions in the world, under very difficult conditions. They have been working with sacrifice, and their sacrifices have always been remembered by our ministry with appreciation and gratitude and will [always] be remembered,” Özügergin said. “We will continue extending our assisting hand to the brotherly and friendly Afghan people. We will continue working in this country for the welfare of the Afghan people,” he added, conveying messages of condolence to the families of the TSK members who were killed and injured.
In an article posted from Camp Doğan in Kabul, where the Turkish unit in the city is stationed, the Anatolia news agency reported that the city's residents were extremely sad about the death of Col. Sungur, with some residents, as well as Afghan authorities and representatives of foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan, paying visits to the camp in order to convey their messages of condolence.
Col. Sungur was well known in Kabul, with his close interest in children and in maintaining health services for the city's residents. In an interview with Anatolia last year, Sungur highlighted that the roots of the ongoing solidarity between Afghan and Turkish people were founded in the early 20th century, referring to the friendly relations between Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, and then-Afghan King Amanullah.
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