Earlier this week Fighter Sweep reported to you on the increasing levels of tension between the US and Turkey over the use of the Incirlik Air Base. Now there are reports that Germany is actively looking for alternatives to the base for their aircraft being used in the fight against ISIS.
The German defense minister has said she visited a Jordanian airbase which is viewed as a possible alternative to replace Turkey’s Incirlik and it showed a “lot of potential.”
“There is a lot of potential in this airbase and we were very grateful for a very positive reception and a lot of support,” German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at the World Economic Forum’s regional gathering in Jordan on Saturday.
The minister inspected the Azraq air base a day before, eyeing possible alternatives for Turkey’s Incirlik base to station German troops, participating in the US-led campaign against the Islamic State terrorist organization (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). – RT
Some of the tensions between Turkey and Germany came from a recent decision by Germany to grant asylum to some Turkish nationals that were stationed at a NATO base in Germany during last years coup attempt in Turkey. The Turkish government suspected these people were involved in the coup attempt and the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated that they ‘regretted’ Germany’s decision to grant asylum to them.
Featured image by AP
