Posted on 06/05/2017 11:16:26 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (left) and Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
Germany will have to pull its forces out of the Incirlik air force base in southern Turkey because of Turkish government restrictions on German lawmakers seeking to visit troops there, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Monday.
Gabriel was speaking after a meeting in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, which had aimed to address the standoff over Incirlik and other diplomatic tensions between the two NATO allies.
“My Turkish colleague explained to me that in the current situation, Turkey is not able to allow every visit by German parliamentarians to Incirlik – for domestic reasons,” Gabriel told a news conference.
“I regret that. Conversely, I ask for understanding that we – for domestic political reasons – must transfer soldiers out of Incirlik, because the German parliament has a parliamentary army and places value on German lawmakers being able to visit Bundeswehr soldiers at any time.”
Shortly after he spoke, sources in Prime Minister Binali Yildirim’s office said the Turkish premier had cancelled a planned meeting with Gabriel, citing a busy work schedule.
“Our esteemed prime minister canceled the meeting with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel due to the congestion of his work program,” the source said as quoted by the Cumhuriyet newspaper Sputnik reported.
Turkey’s ties with Germany and other European Union states deteriorated sharply in the run-up to Turkey’s 16 April referendum that handed President Tayyip Erdogan stronger presidential powers.
Germany, citing security concerns, banned some Turkish politicians from addressing rallies of expatriate Turks before the referendum. Ankara responded by accusing Berlin of “Nazi-like” tactics, drawing rebukes from Berlin.
Turkey has prevented German lawmakers from visiting the roughly 250 troops stationed at Incirlik as part of the US-led coalition against Islamic State, saying that Germany needs to improve its attitude first.
The troops are part of a German mission providing reconnaissance aircraft to support coalition operations in Iraq and Syria.
The two countries did not want the decision to transfer soldiers out of Incirlik to “further worsen our relationship”, Gabriel said, and they both seek to restore the “good times” between Germany and Turkey.
“We believe that when we have settled this problem … then we will have the chance to work on all the other points where we are firmly convinced that we have common interests”.
Extradition demand
Aside from the Incirlik dispute, Germany has expressed concern about the security crackdown in Turkey after last year’s failed coup. Some 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from their jobs and 50,000 people jailed pending trial.
Turkish officials say the steps are necessary because of the gravity of the coup attempt, which killed 240 people. But critics in Turkey and abroad say Erdogan is using the failed coup as a pretext to muzzle dissent and purge opponents.
German officials said last month that 414 Turkish citizens with diplomatic passports and other government work permits had requested asylum since the attempted putsch. Berlin’s interior ministry has confirmed that asylum requests had been approved for a number of them, a move that angered Ankara.
“Those who seek asylum to escape Turkey and have been mixed up in the coup should be extradited,” Cavusoglu told the news conference.
He said relations between the two countries, as well as regional cooperation, had suffered recently. “If Germany takes one step towards us, we can take two towards them, but we cannot overlook the current situation,” he said.
Commenting on the case of German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, whom Turkey arrested in February on a charge of spreading terrorist propaganda, Cavusoglu said there was a trend in Europe for intelligence agencies to use journalists as agents.
“The accusations about Yucel are not related to journalism, but rather to terror. This is a sensitive issue for all of us,” he said, adding that Yucel’s case was a matter for the courts.
“Our independent judiciary is carrying out the process. The judiciary will make the decision on Yucel,” Cavusoglu said.
More to follow.
Turkey is lost to the West. Get used to it.
Erdogan the Islamist theft of the Referendum was the final straw. Now he is Dictator. Die is cast.
We will follow leaving Turkey. Will not be long.
I think someone within his close circle will take care of
Erdogan
probably
http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2017/05/dear-nato-get-those-50-us-thermonuclear-weapons-out-turkey/138113/
I suppose that the Germans simply assume that the US will pick up their paltry contribution to the coalition efforts in Syria.
Pretty useless bunch of free-loaders anyhow. Never pulled a trigger in Afghanistan, and totally dropped the ball in training the National Police, which they committed to in the Bonn Agreement. They just sat in their camp in Kabul filling garbage cans with empty wine bottles, and eating catered food.
Or we could tip ISIS and when they come to take them away, detonate them by remote control. No more mosks that used to be churches in that region.
Meanwhile, Germany has itself one heckofa dilemma. All those Turkish invaders they've enabled? Do Germans seriously think they're loyal to Germany, not Turkey?
What a mess. How do we defend Germany if there's a Turkish uprising? Both are NATO members. Besides that, why should any country that allowed itself to be over-run by invaders get anyone's help?
BOTH of them?!?!?
What fools we are to have allowed Turkey into NATO. Is it insane that we have nukes in that country?
During the Cold War Turkish land forces we among the largest in NATO. The Soviets had hold back ample forces to cover that frontier. But lately, I agree, Turkey needs to work out its own defense needs outside NATO.
Hitlerkel needs them to threaten Poland and Hungary.
https://www.f35.com/global/participation/turkey-industrial-participation
Germany is nothing but a weak whore that must submit. German men are pathetic.
Besides, the European elite can import Mexicans to replace the koranimals, we got plenty. Mexicans are Christian and work hard but they bring two obvious drawbacks: crime and God-awful mariachi music.
Turkey, single source supplier?
Maybe. But very doubtful.
Like that can't change in a heartbeat. There are literally hundreds of firms in the US that could take over and do a better job very quickly. The sharing of the contracts was to bribe Turkey to keep them in our orbit and if the relationship breaks so does everything else.
I can get used to it, but I worry about all the Westernized Turks, especially the young women who never wore veils or acted submissive. They are worried too, many trying to get out.
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