Washington asked for a "specific number" of Turkish troops for Afghanistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ankara and Washington have been holding discussions on a US demand that its NATO ally Turkey send more troops to Afghanistan, the top US diplomat in Turkey disclosed on Wednesday, while stating that the US has asked for a "specific number" of troops although he declined to name that number.



US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey spoke with a small group of journalists at a round-table meeting in Ankara clearly indicated that US expects Turkey to be "more flexible" on the definition of tasks to be carried out by their mission in Afghanistan.



"What we're asking of all of our allies is to provide additional troops and to take on additional roles, particularly in protecting the population." he said. US Ambassador confirmed that the issue would likely be on the agenda of a White House meeting between Obama and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Dec. 7, Today's Zaman reported.