Turkey refuses German MPs entry to İncirlik base

DW - 15 May 2017, Monday

Turkey has refused to allow a delegation of German lawmakers to visit Bundeswehr soldiers at the Incirlik air base. The incident puts a further strain on already fraught ties between the two countries.

Turkish authorities have once again refused to allow a group of German politicians to visit Bundeswehr soldiers stationed at Incirlik air base, German news agency dpa reported on Monday.

Germany currently has several Tornado surveillance aircraft and a refueling plane deployed at the base that are assisting an international coalition carrying out aerial attacks on positions of the so-called "Islamic State" terrorist group in Iraq and Syria. Some 260 German military personnel are stationed at Incirlik.

According to dpa information, one reason given for the denial of access was Germany's granting asylum to a number of Turkish officers who faced persecution following the failed coup in Turkey on July 15 last year.
Looking for other options

The German government is now considering withdrawing the Bundeswehr troops from the air base, according to information from the Bundestag Defense Committee. A decision on where to move the Tornado units is to be made in the next few weeks, with Jordan seen as a favorite, sources from the committee said.

Turkey already refused last year to grant access to the air base to a German parliamentary delegation, only relenting in October after months of waiting. The reason given then was that Germany had recognized the crimes committed by Ottoman Turkey against Armenians in 1915 as constituting genocide.

Relations between Turkey and Germany have anyway been in a downward spiral over the past months, with many German lawmakers outraged at what they see as a gross repression of freedoms during Ankara's post-coup crackdown. Dozens of journalists have been imprisoned - including the German-Turkish Deniz Yucel - and authorities have carried out mass sackings and arrests of public officials.

Ankara was also recently incensed by Germany's refusal to allow Turkish ministers to make appearances on German soil in a bid to gain "yes" votes among German Turks in a referendum that was to give President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greatly extended powers. Many observers see Erdogan's referendum success as a further step toward establishing an autocracy in Turkey.

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/turkey-refuses-german-parliamentarians-access-to-incirlik-air-base/a-38842366