Turkey took command of NATO-led troops in Afghanistan Sunday for six months in which the alliance plans to relieve U.S. forces in the west and protect elections to the country's first post-Taliban parliament. Turkish Army Lt. Gen. Ethem Erdagi took charge of the 8,500-strong International Security Assistance Force from Eurocorps, which is dominated by French and German troops, at a ceremony at the force's headquarters in the Afghan capital. Under its outgoing French commander, Lt. Gen. Jean-Louis Py, the multinational force expanded from Kabul across a swath of northern Afghanistan and helped provide security for October elections which installed Hamid Karzai as the country's first directly elected president. During Turkey's tenure, the force is also expected to take charge in the west, with countries such as Spain, Italy and Lithuania supplying extra troops. Parliamentary elections are expected to be held in the summer.
