Ankara rejects call for Afghan commitment

ANKARA, Turkey, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Ankara rejected a U.S. request to send more troops to Afghanistan ahead of a visit to Washington on Monday by the Turkish premier.

Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said Ankara's position in Afghanistan would not change, adding the level of Turkish forces there already increased by around 1,000 when it took control over the Kabul Regional Command from French forces on Oct. 31.

"We have not changed nor reduced the number of caveats we had drawn up for our troops' mission in Afghanistan," he told Turkey's leading English-language daily Today's Zaman.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered another 30,000 U.S. forces into Afghanistan. That level is short of what his top military commanders called for and NATO forces were expected to make up the difference.

NATO foreign ministers agreed Friday to send an additional 7,000 troops from the alliance to take part in the Afghan surge.

The newspaper also notes that military advisers in Ankara feel the situation in Afghanistan is bleak, telling government officials that Afghans may begin to view NATO forces as the enemy.

Turkish Prime Minister Reccep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to raise the issue during his visit with Obama next week, though lawmakers said it is unlikely a troop increase would pass in Parliament.