Germany decides to quit Turkey’s Incirlik base

MENEKSE TOKYAY
A file photo shows German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, second right, and Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz, right, speaking before reporters during a visit at the air base in Incirlik, Turkey. (AFP)

ANKARA: Germany has announced it will move its aircraft and 250 military personnel out of Turkey’s southern Incirlik air base, following a weeks-long diplomatic row and the breakdown of bilateral talks in Ankara.
The main reason behind the conflict was Turkey’s refusal to allow German MPs to visit the base, which is currently used for airstrikes against Daesh in Syria. Turkey instead granted them access to NATO base in Konya, another southern province.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel expressed his regret and said that Ankara must understand that Germany will need to transfer it soldiers and military equipment to another location.
He was speaking on Monday following a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The German contingent is expected to be relocated to Jordan’s Azraq air base. The transfer was formally decided by the German government on June 7.
It is not the first time the Incirlik air base has come under the spotlight in relations between members of the anti-Daesh coalition. Earlier this year Turkey warned Washington it would block US forces from using the base if it did not receive support for its Euphrates Shield operation in Syria.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said of Germany’s intended move: “There is no decision we have taken on this. They can have it their own way.”
Germany’s withdrawal from Incirlik — where its jets conduct reconnaissance missions over Iraq and Syria — will take a toll on the US-led coalition against Daesh, especially during the Raqqa operation.
Germany also announced that its surveillance flights will be interrupted for a few weeks.
“The presence of Germany at the Incirlik air base was connected with the anti-Daesh efforts but its withdrawal from the base does not mean that it will renounce contributing to (the) anti-Daesh international coalition,” Oytun Orhan, a researcher on Syria at the Ankara-based think-tank Orsam, told Arab News.
Orhan noted that Germany’s decision may result in problems in terms of cost and effectiveness of its military operation because no other air base can bring similar operational advantages.
“But it will not harm its presence in the anti-Daesh coalition especially considering that its role within the coalition was limited compared to the US,” he said.
After Incirlik, the best second option is actually the base in Jordan, Orhan added.
Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat who now chairs the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM), said Germany’s decision to move its soldiers out of Incirlik will have both tactical and strategic consequences.
“The Jordan option can help to maintain the German assets involved in the campaign but it will inevitably complicate the coordination efforts between the allied nations taking part in the counter-Daesh campaign,” Ulgen told Arab News.
“At the strategic level, the principle of alliance solidarity stands to be affected with a NATO (member) deciding to move its soldiers out of the territory of a NATO ally, to a non-NATO country.
“Difficulties that emerged in bilateral relations between two NATO allies ended up affecting the effectiveness of a multilateral military campaign.”