Merkel to raise Incirlik issue in meeting with Erdogan

German Chancellor Angela Merkel today urged Ankara to allow German lawmakers to visit the troops stationed in Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Brussels on the sidelines of NATO leaders’ summit, Merkel said she would raise the Incirlik row at the meeting.

“I will tell him that this is something indispensable for us,” Merkel stressed.

Because our army is a parliamentary army. Our lawmakers should be able to visit our troops. Otherwise we will have to leave Incirlik.

Since 2015, Germany has stationed six Tornado surveillance jets and a tanker aircraft at Incirlik, along with around 260 personnel, providing intelligence and logistics support for anti-Daesh operations.

In a speech yesterday and in reference to the air base, Erdogan said: “If they want to go, we would say ‘Goodbye’.”

Situated in southern Turkey, the base is the main site for launching airstrikes against Daesh in Syria.

Turkey has been reluctant to give permission for German lawmakers to visit the base amid ongoing tensions between Berlin and Ankara.