Turkey lifts German MPs ban on Incirlik Air Base Bundeswehr troops visits

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier confirmed on Thursday that Turkish authorities had lifted a ban on German MPs visiting Bundeswehr troops stationed at Incirlik Air Base.

Steinmeier said he welcomed the decision, reported Deutsche Welle.

“An army that answers to parliament must be able to be visited by their deputies,” stated Steinmeier. “With this decision by the Turkish government, we are a little further on in our relations.”

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Ankara banned access to Incirlik last June in anger at a resolution passed by the German Parliament declaring that the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces amounted to “genocide”.

Although it accepts that millions were killed, Turkey vehemently rejects the term, and relations between the two countries have deteriorated.

Turkey has insisted that the German government distance itself from the resolution, which Berlin had said was not legally binding.

Following Turkey’s decision to allow German MPs visiting the base, a delegation from the parliamentary committee for military affairs is scheduled to visit Incirlik next month, a source in Berlin told German news agency DPA.

CYPRUS MOVE

At one point, Germany had threatened to pull its military out of the facility and relocate six Tornado reconnaissance jets to Cyprus.

The reports prompted the Cyprus government to announce that they had not heard anything from Germany regarding the possible jet relocation to the island.

NEW INVESTMENT

On Tuesday, Der Spiegel reported that Berlin was prepared to invest in new facilities at the busy air base.

Incirlik, located in southern Turkey, is being used by the US-led military coalition against the so-called Islamic State group.

Germany has some 240 Bundeswehr soldiers and Tornado reconnaissance aircraft involved in the military campaign in Syria and Iraq.