A group of German lawmakers on Wednesday finally visited German air force personnel at İncirlik Air Base in the southern province of Adana after a months-long diplomatic row.
Christian Democrat lawmakers Karl A. Lamers, Ingo Gaedefchens and Florian Hahn, Social Democrat MPs Rainer Arnold and Karl Heinz Brunner, Alexander S. Neu from the Left Party and Agnieszka Brugger of the Greens arrived at the air base on Wednesday afternoon.
Ankara had previously blocked the visit of the German legislators after the Bundestag voted to recognize World War I-era mass killings of Ottoman Armenians as “genocide.” Diplomatic relations had been strained for three months.
Germany has a number of fighter jets at the air base and contributes to the US-led coalition against the terrorist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria.
After months of wrangling, Turkey finally approved the visit in September.
