Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Friday of the consequences of leaving Afghanistan to terrorist organizations.

He added in a joint press conference with members of the Bosnian Presidential Council, in the capital, Sarajevo, that withdrawing from Afghanistan, and leaving it to terrorist organizations, will result in serious consequences.

He pointed out that the recent developments in Afghanistan made the world turn its attention to this country, expressing regret that the death toll from yesterday’s Kabul attack had risen to 170.

And he added that these data indicate one thing, that “the countries that consider themselves the most powerful in the world should have withdrawn with greater caution from the places they entered, but that did not happen.”

He pointed out that the terrorist organization “ISIS” has claimed responsibility for the Kabul airport bombing, stressing that Turkey has fought and is waging the biggest struggle against this organization.

Erdogan criticized (unnamed) parties for contenting themselves with fighting ISIS with words only, stressing the need to take the necessary steps in this regard.

And he added: “You say that the Taliban movement today is not the Taliban of yesterday, the issue is not what it says but what it does, and the steps that the Taliban will take in the next stage in Afghanistan bear great importance.”

Regarding the evacuation of Turks from Afghanistan, he said: “We have evacuated our civilian citizens and withdrawn all our teams from Afghanistan except for a few of our technical staff.”

Erdogan stressed his country’s support for all peace efforts in Afghanistan, noting that it has made great efforts in infrastructure and superstructure projects in this country during the past 20 years.

He stated that there is a conflict between terrorist organizations in Afghanistan, and that it is not possible to think that Turkey or any other country could benefit from this conflict.

He pointed out that the most important issue is the establishment of peace in Afghanistan, and that this is the only thing that the United States should do, but it preferred to withdraw and leave the country to its fate.

He added: “What will NATO do now, we are a member of the alliance, and of course we will hold our talks, and we will determine the steps that we will take in this regard.”

Regarding bilateral relations, Erdogan said that Bosnia and Herzegovina holds a special place in the heart of the Turkish people, stressing that the great messages of solidarity sent by Bosnia during the recent natural disasters in Turkey “show that this love did not come from a vacuum.”

He pointed out that he agreed with members of the Presidential Council to strengthen cooperation relations between the two countries in all fields, especially the political, economic, industrial, tourism, agricultural and educational fields.

He pointed out that the free trade agreement between the two countries entered into force in early August, which will contribute to strengthening trade relations and increasing Turkish investments in Bosnia.

He stressed the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political unity of Bosnia as the key to peace in the region, stressing the continuation of cooperation and work to maintain regional peace.

(Anatolia)