U.N. Security Council Thanks Turkey For Undertaking Command Of I.S.A.F.

NEW YORK (A.A) - 20.07.2002 - The members of the United Nations Security Council thanked Turkey for undertaking command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
At a meeting of the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan, delegates referred to the successful works carried out by Turkey which has undertaken command of the ISAF for six months, and stressed that they would continue to extend full support to Turkey.
Speaking at the meeting, representative of Afghanistan thanked Turkey, and reiterated his request to broad mission field of the ISAF.
Afghan representative said that ISAF's deployment in other cities would be beneficial.
Meanwhile, Turkey's Permament Representative to the United Nations Umit Pamir said, ''the situation is calm in Kabul. Although there are still some problems, general outlook is quite positive. We attribute great importance to foundation of Afghan army and training of Afghan troops. Internal migration has been putting serious pressure on Kabul. More than one million refugees came to Kabul in last six months. We expect number of refugees to exceed two million till the end of the year.''
Calling on the United Nations to take necessary measures in order to prevent illicit drug trafficking, Pamir said, ''ISAF's mission directives order deployment only in capital Kabul. Before broadening ISAF's mission field, political issues should be assessed. Also, ISAF should be provided with logistic support and financial sources.''