Top Turkish, US diplomats vow to continue to work on Afghanistan

NEW YORK

Ahead of a one-on-one meeting Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the US and Turkey’s top diplomats said they would continue to work on Afghanistan.

"We’re so grateful to Turkey for its very strong partnership in Afghanistan and the work that we continue to do together there. Lots to talk about there on Afghanistan going forward, but also many other regional issues, from Syria to the Caucuses,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a joint press briefing with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"And Turkey and the United States stand together as strong partners and NATO Allies and look forward to covering a lot of ground in the time we have today," Blinken added.

Cavusoglu, for his part, thanked Blinken "for the excellent cooperation on Afghanistan, in many areas."

"Of course, we will continue working on Afghanistan together, we will continue our cooperation... And while we continue this cooperation, we will do our best to strengthen our bilateral relations work," he said.

The US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan by the end of August. Since the Taliban's takeover of the capital Kabul, Turkey, as a NATO force there, has been working with Qatar on the security of Hamid Karzai International Airport.