Ankara was perhaps among those most taken aback by the Taliban’s whirlwind takeover of Kabul and the earlier-than-expected US departure from Afghanistan. Until last week, Ankara was preparing to attempt to mediate between the Taliban and the West and assume a mission to guard and run Kabul’s international airport once fellow NATO forces completed their withdrawal. After the head-spinning turn of events, it is now scrambling to adapt to the new realities on the ground.

The prevailing view in Ankara is that there is nothing left to negotiate with Washington now. Thus, efforts are underway for direct contacts with the Taliban.

“We maintain our dialogue with all parties [in Afghanistan], including the Taliban,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Aug. 17. “We view positively Taliban’s hitherto messages, both to foreigners and diplomatic missions and to its own people. We hope to see the same in their actions as well.” The minister signaled Turkey would wait for the dust to settle to decide its next step on the issue of the Kabul airport. 

Turkey has been in charge of the military section of the airport as part of the US-led NATO mission and its soldiers have remained there so far amid the chaos of evacuation flights and Afghan crowds scrambling to flee the country.