ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey officially agreed Monday to take over from Britain the command of the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan for six months, the government said.

The announcement, which came after a Cabinet meeting, said the date of the handover would be agreed upon after negotiations with the member countries of the mission and the United Nations. British officials said earlier this month that they did not believe it would take place before June.

There are currently 270 Turkish soldiers in the Afghan peacekeeping force, which is responsible for patrolling Kabul and its surrounding areas.

Turkey, a NATO member, was the first Muslim country to contribute troops to the mission. Turkey has said that it would enlarge its force to about 1,000 troops if it assumes command.

Britain has led the 4,500-member, 18-nation security force since the Security Council established it in late December and had wanted to hand over command in April.

Turkey earlier offered to take over command of the force, but was concerned that sending a large Turkish force would be too costly for a country that is suffering through an economic crisis. Turkey also insisted that the United States provide cargo planes and that Britain leave behind some of the facilities it set up for the peacekeepers.