Posted on 04/27/2005 2:33:59 PM PDT by Turk2
Turkey finally agrees to U.S. request to use air base
4/26/2005 7:00:00 PM GMT
After months of delay, Turkey's Cabinet approved a long-standing U.S. request to have increased access to a strategic air base for flying into Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Cabinet’s decision was another step toward improving relations with Washington that were strained when Turkey refused to allow U.S. troops to stage an invasion of Iraq from Turkish territory in March 2003.
The Cabinet’s decree which allows the United States to fly in more cargo planes into the southern Incirlik Air Base for one year beginning in June was sent to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer for approval, the Anatolia news agency said.
The U.S. request, the details of which were not released, was relayed to Turkey in June in which permission was sought for the establishment of a logistics hub at Incirlik.
U.S. Ambassador Eric Edelman and Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul are scheduled to hold a joint news conference on the deal on Tuesday.
According to the private television station NTV, Turkey also accepted a U.S. request for blanket clearance for all cargo flights, backing off an earlier stance that each flight should get separate permission before landing and takeoff.
U.S. diplomats had expressed unease about Turkey's delay and its insistence on requiring separate permission for each flight.
The United States plans to fly in large civilian cargo flights to Incirlik and redistribute the goods to military planes for Afghanistan and Iraq.
The current deal expires June 23 with the one-year mandate of the new agreement likely to start then.
Turkey last year allowed the United States to fly thousands of U.S. troops out of Iraq through Incirlik, which is about 600 miles from the Iraq border and 2,000 miles west of Afghanistan.
Incirlik was used by the United States and its allies during the 1991 Gulf War to launch airstrikes against Iraq. It was the hub for U.S.-led flights enforcing a no-fly zone over Iraq for 12 years until 2003.
Turkey's Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and U. S. ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman
ping
By the time Turkey gets accepted into the EU, it will already have disbanded.
This is like Lucy taking the ball away from Charlie Brown, just as he is about to kick it. Like Charlie, we should have learnt our lesson earlier, but we do not.
Turkey says sure you can use your bases, but when you need them most, Turkey will reverse its decision and stop you from using them.
What is the point of the USA spending millions of dollars on Turkish bases when they cannot be used when we need them most?
Turkey stopped the US 4th infantry division from assisting the effort in Iraq. Without a doubt, this Turkish betrayal resulted in the deaths of hundreds of US soliders. As well, it set back the movement against insurgents many months, and surely resulted in the deaths of thousands of Iraqis too.
Do you think this is an isolated incident, and that Turkey will not do this to us again? Perhaps we should look to build a base elsewhere...
Turkey is Chicken.
Dear Turkey,
Too bad you guys turned down all the $2bil. in Iraq war money we wanted to give you to use your bases in 03. Looks like your European buddies were wrong then too.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I suspect that within the 15 year window -- Western Europe will already be under Islamic Control or paralyzed by Islamic complaining mobs..
As we speak -- Burka clad women are copulating and populating Europe, like brood mares...
I believe it is Belgium, where Muslim births outnumber non-Muslim births already..
Semper Fi
Its the Eurohippies that brought this upon themselves. They insisted on tolerating and supporting Islamic fundamentalism on their land to de-nationalize their Muslims population and isolate them from the rest of their people.
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