Turkey slams US plan to resettle Afghans

Ankara has criticised a US plan to use third countries such as Turkey to resettle thousands of Afghans who risk being targeted by Taliban insurgents over their US links.

Less than a month before the United States is set to end its longest-ever war, the State Department on Monday announced a new refugee admissions programme for Afghan nationals.

The programme covers interpreters and translators who worked with US forces, Afghans involved with US-funded projects and those employed by US-based NGOs or media organisations.

It involves resettling the Afghans in third countries in the region for around a year while their paperwork is processed.

But Turkey, which is already home to more than four million migrants -- most from war-torn Syria -- said it was never consulted.

"It's unacceptable to seek a solution to the problem in our country without our country's consent," the foreign ministry said in a statement issued late Tuesday.

The State Department referred to Turkey as one possible relocation point, also mentioning Pakistan.

But the Turkish ministry said the US plan would lead to a "big migration crisis in our region", adding it lacked the capacity to deal with "a new migration crisis on behalf of a third country".

With the ongoing withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan, Turkey fears a new influx of refugees.