Turkey to restore Afghanistan's oldest hospital

Kabul's Ali Abad Sanatorium, built by Turkey in 1932 but abandoned after years of war and unrest, will see patients again following extensive restorations to be carried out by the Turkish government, announced Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag during a visit to Afghanistan this week. Bozdag vowed to rebuild the hospital during a visit in which the deputy met with Afghani President Hamid Karzai to review Turkey's humanitarian contributions to the NATO campaign in Afghanistan. Accompanied by Health Minister Sureyya Dalil and Education Minister Server Danis, Bozdag visited the former hospital and told reporters the facility once served as a medical school that trained generations of Afghan doctors. Built on Ataturk's orders as a gesture of goodwill to the people of Afghanistan, the hospital was Kabul's only medical facility when it opened its doors in 1932. The details of the project still remain uncertain, and Bozdag promised that if the heavily damaged building cannot be restored, the Turkish government will build a new hospital instead. "After some technical analyses, we will make a decision," the deputy stated.