FILE PHOTO: A soldier of the German Armed Forces Bundeswehr wears a patch of the combat wing (Einsatzgeschwader) Counter DAESH Incirlik next to a German Tornado jet in a hangar before a statement of the German and Turkish defence ministers at the air base in Incirlik, Turkey, January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz/Pool/File Photo
Germany withdrawing from Turkish air base
FILE PHOTO: A soldier of the German Armed Forces Bundeswehr wears a patch of the combat wing (Einsatzgeschwader) Counter DAESH Incirlik next to a German Tornado jet in a hangar before a statement of the German and Turkish defence ministers at the air base in Incirlik, Turkey, January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz/Pool/File Photo
or read the key points below;
- Germany began on Sunday to pull its troops out of a Turkish air base where they have supported international operations against Islamic State following a row with Ankara over access.
- German tornado jets were due to keep operating out of Incirlik until the end of July as part of a mission providing reconnaissance aircraft to support U.S.-led coalition operations against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
- In the meantime the necessary material was to be moved to a new air base in Jordan, where the planes are scheduled to be deployed by October.
- Turkey had refused to allow German lawmakers to make what they saw as a routine visit to the base, saying that Berlin needed to improve its attitude towards Turkey first.
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday that a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had revealed “deep differences” between the two NATO allies.
