Kabul Snowstorm Grounds Türkiye's Foreign Minister

A blizzard over Kabul on 11 February 2005 forced Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul to scrap a planned three-day visit to Afghanistan, the foreign ministry confirmed. Near-zero visibility at the airport and no forecast of improvement made the flight impossible.

Gul had been due to meet Afghan officials and attend Sunday's ceremony transferring ISAF command to Türkiye. The NATO-led force numbers roughly 8,000 troops from 36 countries. Türkiye, which previously led ISAF from June 2002 to February 2003, will contribute 1,600 soldiers to the mission.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in February 2005, in its own words.