The German cabinet recommended on Wednesday, June 7 withdrawing troops from Turkey’s İncirlik air base for redeployment to Jordan.
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel made the announcement on Monday after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara would continue blocking a German parliamentary delegation from visiting Bundeswehr troops based in İncirlik.
The Bundestag confirmed the move on Wednesday.
No more patience with #Turkey: Chancellor #Merkel explains the removal of Bundeswehr troops from the Incirlik airbase to #Jordan. pic.twitter.com/KzUwgEVEvn
— DW | Politics (@dw_politics) June 7, 2017
Denial of German visits
Turkey has not allowed German delegations to visit the country’s 260 soldiers currently based at İncirlik. On May 16, Turkish media reported that officials denied a visit, saying it “was not considered appropriate at this time.”
During Gabriel’s trip this week, Cavusoglu said German lawmakers could visit troops at the NATO base in Konya.
German troops currently use the İncirlik air base to conduct surveillance operations and refueling flights in support of the US-led coalition against Islamic State.
Von der Leyen said the redeployment to Jordan would temporarily stop refueling flights for several weeks and surveillance operations for up to 3 months.
