Turkey Surrounds Incirlik Base, Claims Only an Inspection
But since they only kept obedient media, will we ever know the truth?
On Saturday night, Turkish forces and protestors surrounded the Incirlik Air Base, which the U.S. uses to conduct airstrikes against ISIS in Syria. The government claims the incident was merely a safety inspection.
PHOTOS: Multiple municipal truck arrive at Incirlik base in #Turky – @nighttides pic.twitter.com/GVpq98D0sf
— Conflict News (@Conflicts) July 30, 2016
It instantly looked like another coup as forces blocked entrances.
US İncirlik air base cordoned off by municipality trucks and bulldozers due to 2nd coup rumors. Turkey pic.twitter.com/EuykMQ0m5w
— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) July 31, 2016
https://twitter.com/FGunay1/status/759515935430574080
PHOTO: Situation outside Incirlik airbase in Turkey where police have closed entrances & exits. – @Brasco_Aad pic.twitter.com/hKUOKpypzd
— Conflict News (@Conflicts) July 30, 2016
Governor Ahmet Cina told state news agency Anadolu Agency that the situation was “normal and controlled” and the government did move their troops.
U.S Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dunford will inspect the base on Sunday and “hold talks with the Turkish government in Ankara.”
But Turkey has shut down 131 media outlets and arrested 47 journalists allegedly connected or sympathized with Fehtullah Gülen, the scholar the government has blamed on the failed coup from 3 weeks ago. So it’s hard to tell what the truth is about the incident at the base.
Speaking of Gülen, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has used the word “mastermind” in his latest speeches when blaming the scholar. He has claimed that a “mastermind” has used Gülen as a pawn to bring down the regime, “hinting that greater powers were behind the attempted” coup.
Turkish officials have dropped hints they believe the West, mainly the U.S., had a hand in the failed coup. This makes people believe Erdoğan means the West and U.S. when he says “mastermind.”
Remember, Turkey is a member of NATO, a supposed ally of the West. Erdoğan has purged almost 50,000 and arrested 18,044 people. Amnesty International reported they received evidence that Turkish authorities have beaten, tortured, and raped detainees held after the failed coup. They demand Turkey give independent monitors “access to detainees in all facilities.”
The Turkish officials have also denied the detainees access to lawyers, family, and friends. Most of them have not even told family members what has happened to them. Lawyers also did not see their clients until right before their court date.
Well, Turkey’s NATO allies have noticed all of this and Secretary of State John Kerry warned their actions could harm their NATO membership. The European Union also halted the process to bring the country into the union.
EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn even said he believes the president made his purge list before the coup:
“It looks at least as if something has been prepared. The lists are available, which indicates it was prepared and to be used at a certain stage,” Hahn said.
“I’m very concerned. It is exactly what we feared.”
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Comments
Perhaps we can appreciate Bush’s choice to invade Iraq first now that Turkey has become unreliable. A few air bases in Iraq would render Turkey’s geographic location irrelevant.
Turkey’s location is still important to the goal of impeding Russian access to the Mediterranean. And that has been the goal for everybody (except Russia, of course) for centuries.
“But since they only kept obedient media, will we ever know the truth?”….ask Obama, he will tell the truth…..crap. How about the SoS, Kerry?…crap. How about the FBI?….crap….
Oh well….
I seem to recall from reading history that a similar excuse was used during the early stages of the Isolation of Berlin (see: history of the Iron Curtain/Berlin Wall).
They better be careful, we have air conditioning!
And refrigeration!
I have a Freidrich CP05G10 and I’m not afraid to use it!
And will that safety inspection involve removing the nuclear warheads to a more ‘secure’ location?
Way past time to move those nukes.
This attempt at destabilizing Turkey sure feels like it has Hillary’s fingerprints on it.
Or, just the State Department in general.
I haven’t seen any mention in the press, but just how often does Turkey decide that it’s time for an “inspection”? And what are they inspecting, OSHA compliance? Looking for rats in the cafeteria? Nothing exceeding its “sell by” date in the PX? Seeing if the hydrogen bombs are functional? Last I heard, about a quarter of NATO’s stash of B-61 fusion bombs are at Incirlik … even though the base has no American or Turkish aircraft which can deliver them.