German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that Germany would move its Bundeswehr troops at Turkey’s İncirlik Airbase to Jordan as it has no more patience with Ankara over its refusal to allow German lawmakers to visit the troops at the base.
According to a story by Deutsche Welle (DW) on Wednesday, Merkel said while speaking at a press conference in Berlin that Germany needs unlimited access to the Bundeswehr troops at İncirlik.
“We need an unlimited right to visit for a parliamentary army. We will go to Jordan. Of course, beforehand, we will speak to our partners in the anti-IS coalition about how to provide replacement services during the relocation period,” she said in a video shared by DW on Twitter.
According to a Doğan news agency report on Wednesday, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday called her Turkish counterpart, Fikri Işık, to inform him of Berlin’s decision to pull the Bundeswehr out of İncirlik Airbase.
Earlier on Wednesday, Germany’s government recommended pulling the Bundeswehr from İncirlik after Turkey refused to allow a group of German lawmakers to visit troops at the base.
The Bundeswehr has about 280 military personnel stationed at İncirlik, from where they fly Tornado surveillance missions over Syria and refuel flights for partner nations in the coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Earlier on Monday, von der Leyen said, “İncirlik is a good air base for the fight against ISIL, but we cannot accept not being able to visit our soldiers,” adding that an alternative had been identified in Jordan’s Azraq airbase.
She added that King Abdullah supports the move, which could pause refueling missions by two to three weeks and surveillance flights by two to three months.
Tension between Germany and Turkey escalated over the arrest of two Turkish-German journalists on terrorism charges and Berlin’s decision to grant asylum to military officers and other diplomatic passport holders who Ankara accuses of involvement in a failed coup attempt on July 15.
The tension turned into a crisis when the Turkish government blocked a group of German lawmakers from visiting troops stationed at Turkey’s İncirlik Airbase on May 15.
(Video by DW)