Turkish government to allow German MPs to visit İncirlik in October

The Turkish government will permit German lawmakers visit to the İncirlik Air Base in the southern province of Adana in October following a request from Berlin, Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said Sept. 19.

"We had not allowed their visit to the İncirlik base due to decisions taken by the German parliament regarding the 1915 incidents. We implemented such policies due to such absurd, meaningless and delusive decisions. However, [Chancellor Angela] Merkel announced later that this was not a judicial but a political decision. This is an announcement that meets our expectations. Therefore, from now on, we will allow German parliamentarians to visit in line with their demands. They had requests on the issue. Permission has been given to them to enable their visit in October. It is at their own discretion whether to visit or not," Canikli told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

Relations between Ankara and Berlin became strained after the Bundestag passed a bill that labeled the World War I-era killing of Anatolian Armenians as "genocide," worsening after Turkey rejected a German parliamentary delegation request in June to visit İncirlik, which hosts 250 German troops, six surveillance jets and a refueling tanker.

Berlin threatened to transfer its forces at the base to another regional country in response to Turkey's stance. 

The German troops and jets at İncirlik contribute to the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has previously confirmed that the Turkish government had given permission to the German parliamentarians to visit the base after German authorities met Ankara's expectations regarding the bill.