Turkey hands over Dogan barracks in Kabul to Afghan gov’t

The Dogan barracks, where Turkish military personnel deployed in Afghanistan had been based, on Monday was handed over in a ceremony to the Afghan government by Turkish Armed Forces.

Major Gen. Mehmet Cahit Bakır and Gen. Azizuddin Ayar, a representative of the Defense Minister of Afghanistan, as well as other Afghan officials, attended the ceremony.

"We are handing over this camp to our Afghan brothers. But we will also continue to serve in the future as in the past," Bakır said at the ceremony.

He also underlined that in the last 13 years, 250,000 Afghan nationals were treated at the barrack's hospital and thanked the Turkish soldiers who had served in the barracks since 2002.

Gen. Ayar also thanked the Turkish government for its help.

"We will use this barracks as a maintenance center for all military vehicles," he said.

Turkish soldiers will continue to serve at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, which the Turkish Armed Forces handed over to Afghanistan on Dec. 31, 2014.