German troops poised to leave Turkey for Jordan
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might have miscalculated the patience of Western leaders who adopted an “appeasement” policy regarding Turkey.
Relations between Ankara and Berlin hit a new low today as Germany's Cabinet approved moving its troops from Turkey's highly valued and strategic Incirlik Air Base to Jordan. The move, which still needs parliamentary approval, could affect the battle against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq.
The widening rift between Turkey and Germany also is likely to have a strong impact on the entire NATO alliance, which perhaps hasn't witnessed such a dramatic row among its members since France withdrew from the alliance's military command in 1966.
The most recent provocation in the long-running feud came when Turkey refused to allow German parliamentarians to visit troops stationed at Incirlik. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel visited Ankara on June 5 but was unable to resolve the dispute. Even before Gabriel's visit, he had said, “We have already reached the limits of what is acceptable.”
Also just before Gabriel's trip, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said, "It is unacceptable that our deputies cannot visit the troops." She added that troops at Incirlik would be moved to the air base in Azraq, Jordan, indicating Germany already had considered alternatives in case Gabriel’s efforts proved unsuccessful. “We are ready for a transfer," she said, adding that Jordan's King Abdullah supported the move.
