Germany Decides to Withdraw From İncirlik

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Germany's Minister of Defence, Ursula von der Leyen's plan to withdraw troops from İncirlik Air Base in Adana has been approved by the Ministerial Cabinet.

The decision to deploy troops in the base was taken in the German Bundestag in the first place.

Jordan alternative

The political parties in the German Parliament except The Left (Die Linke) back the plan to move the troops from İncirlik to Jordan. The Left on the other side demands that Germany withdraw from the fight against ISIS (Islamic State of Syria and Iraq).

Armed Forces Rapporteur Hans-Peter Bartels stated that the alternative air base in Al Azraq of Jordan would be more dangerous for the German soldiers than the İncirlik Base.

The base in Jordan is also deployed by US soldiers.

The German troops consisting of approximately 260 soldiers are on duty in the fights against ISIS and back the anti-ISIS coalition with exploration fights.

CLICK - Turkey, Germany Cannot Agree Over İncirlik Air Base

Minister of Defence, Ursula von der Leyen had stated earlier that preparations were being made in order to deploy troops from the İncirlik Base to Jordan and had pointed out that the air base in Azraq province of Jordan was an alternative to incirlik.

Merkel had also stated earlier that Jordan was one of the alternatives that came in question besides Kuwait and Cyprus.

What happened?

A delegation consisting of Chair of Federal Parliament of Germany Defence Commission Wolfgang Hellmich and other members of the commission had requested permission from the Government of Turkey to visit the İncirlik Military Base to examine the current situation regarding the fight against the İslamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) and as well as to observe the working conditions of the soldiers from Germany.

The visit was planned to be on May 16. Yet, the government of Turkey denied the request of the German officials.

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Gabriel, who came to Turkey to discuss the matter that German MPs are not allowed to visit German soldiers in İncirlik, couldn't reach an agreement in the meeting.

Gabriel said that the German soldiers will have to be withdrawn from the İncirlik. (YY/DG)