Afghanistan Concerns

STAR- Columnist Zeynep Gurcanli writes on the duties of the Turkish contingent in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul. A summary of her column is as follows:
In the midst of news about the prime minister's health, Turkey's EU membership bid, and the violence in the Middle East, Turkey silently assumed the command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. This brought concerns and problems in addition to its prestige. The first concern came in financing. Countries which are contributing to the force are meeting the expenses of their own troops. Turkey's expenses have increased as the number of its troops participating in the force has grown due its taking the command. However, no country has donated any money to the fund formed by the United Nations for the ISAF. A bill granting aid in the amount of $228 million the US had promised to give if Turkey assumed command is waiting approval in the US Congress. Only $28 million of this figure was directly allocated to the ISAF. The rest is to be used wherever necessary. In other words, it will meet Turkey's debts without entering Turkey. In short, the command has cost dearly to Turkey even now. The second concern is related to the return of refugees. The stability created by the ISAF encouraged Afghan refugees to return home. Since the ISAF began its duty in Afghanistan, one million refugees sheltered in neighboring countries returned home together with members of the Taleban and Al Qaida. Another concern created by the return of the refugees is finding food, homes and jobs for them. Notwitstanding the stability in security in the country, the Afghan economy is still in a shambles. It is most likely that refugees returning home who cannot find emplyoment will resort to illegal means. This situation, which heightens the possibility of 'crime eruption,'can affect both the security established by the ISAF and the security of the ISAF troops. The third concern regards narcotics. The only working wheel of the Afghan economy is the production of plants from which narcotics are made and their sale. The narcotics trade generatees large amounts of money and is conducted by well-organized, armed groups. New crops should be found for the Afghan farmer to cultivate, as their only income is to raise plants used in the production of drugs. The UN has taken this issue at hand. The harvest of the Afghan farmer growing plants used in the production of drugs is being bought and destroyed. However, this means playing with the earnings of armed networks reaping great sums from this trade. It is possible that that these gangs will vent their anger at the ISAF, which is the only force barring them from conducting narcotics trade in the country. All these stem from the nature of the international forces's duty and its special circumstances in Afghanistan. There are other concerns brought before Turkey due to the games played in diplomatic arenas. Turkey accepted the command of the ISAF under heavy pressure for six months only. Both Britain and the US gave many guarantees to Turkey ranging from support in financing, intelligence, and transport-evacuation. As soon as assuming command, Ankara began talks to hand over this post, covering many anticipated concerns at the end of its six months. However, it is still not certain who will take over the command of the force. What is worse, there is no one asking for it. It seems that the third term command may be left to Turkey as well. Turkey, which wants to be a regional power, will not say that it will leave the command even if there is no one asking for the job. If we consider that no country has as yet volunteered to assume the command of the force, it will mean a great additional burden for the Turkish economy, which is already not in good shape. Last but not least is that an international campaign has been launched to broaden the ISAF's area of duty, which covered only Kabul and its environs up to today. An enlargement of the duty area would mean an increase in the number of troops coming from the country which has assumed command. This in turn, would bring a terrible financial burden. At the moment, the broadening of duties is out of the question. But when considered together with financial and security matters and the instability in Turkey, this may pose a problem in the future. In short, the command of the ISAF will be a harder duty for Turkey than anticipated.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION