ANKARA: Germany has announced it will move its aircraft and 250 military personnel out of Turkey’s southern Incirlik air base, following a weeks-long diplomatic row and the breakdown of bilateral talks in Ankara.
The main reason behind the conflict was Turkey’s refusal to allow German MPs to visit the base, which is currently used for airstrikes against Daesh in Syria. Turkey instead granted them access to NATO base in Konya, another southern province.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel expressed his regret and said that Ankara must understand that Germany will need to transfer it soldiers and military equipment to another location.
He was speaking on Monday following a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The German contingent is expected to be relocated to Jordan’s Azraq air base. The transfer was formally decided by the German government on June 7.
It is not the first time the Incirlik air base has come under the spotlight in relations between members of the anti-Daesh coalition. Earlier this year Turkey warned Washington it would block US forces from using the base if it did not receive support for its Euphrates Shield operation in Syria.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said of Germany’s intended move: “There is no decision we have taken on this. They can have it their own way.”
Germany’s withdrawal from Incirlik — where its jets conduct reconnaissance missions over Iraq and Syria — will take a toll on the US-led coalition against Daesh, especially during the Raqqa operation.
Germany also announced that its surveillance flights will be interrupted for a few weeks.
“The presence of Germany at the Incirlik air base was connected with the anti-Daesh efforts but its withdrawal from the base does not mean that it will renounce contributing to (the) anti-Daesh international coalition,” Oytun Orhan, a researcher on Syria at the Ankara-based think-tank Orsam, told Arab News.
Orhan noted that Germany’s decision may result in problems in terms of cost and effectiveness of its military operation because no other air base can bring similar operational advantages.
“But it will not harm its presence in the anti-Daesh coalition especially considering that its role within the coalition was limited compared to the US,” he said.
After Incirlik, the best second option is actually the base in Jordan, Orhan added.
Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat who now chairs the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM), said Germany’s decision to move its soldiers out of Incirlik will have both tactical and strategic consequences.
“The Jordan option can help to maintain the German assets involved in the campaign but it will inevitably complicate the coordination efforts between the allied nations taking part in the counter-Daesh campaign,” Ulgen told Arab News.
“At the strategic level, the principle of alliance solidarity stands to be affected with a NATO (member) deciding to move its soldiers out of the territory of a NATO ally, to a non-NATO country.
“Difficulties that emerged in bilateral relations between two NATO allies ended up affecting the effectiveness of a multilateral military campaign.”
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Germany decides to quit Turkey’s Incirlik base
Germany decides to quit Turkey’s Incirlik base
Iraq executes a former senior officer under Saddam for the 1980 killing of a Shiite cleric
- Al-Sadr was a leading critic of Saddam’s secular Baathist government whose dissent intensified after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran
- The cleric’s execution in 1980 became a symbol of oppression under Saddam
BAGHDAD: Iraq announced on Monday that a high-level security officer during the rule of Saddam Hussein has been hanged for his involvement in the 1980 killing of a prominent Shiite cleric.
The National Security Service said that Saadoun Sabri Al-Qaisi, who held the rank of major general under Saddam and was arrested last year, was convicted of “grave crimes against humanity,” including the killing of prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric Mohammed Baqir Al-Sadr, members of the Al-Hakim family, and other civilians.
The agency did not say when Al-Qaisi was executed.
Al-Sadr was a leading critic of Iraq’s secular Baathist government and Saddam, his opposition intensifying following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, which heightened Saddam’s fears of a Shiite-led uprising in Iraq.
In 1980, as the government moved against Shiite activists, Al-Sadr and his sister Bint Al-Huda — a religious scholar and activist who spoke out against government oppression — were arrested. Reports indicate they were tortured before being executed by hanging on April 8, 1980.
The execution sparked widespread outrage at the time and remains a symbol of repression under Saddam’s rule. Saddam was from Iraq’s Sunni minority.
Since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, authorities have pursued former officials accused of crimes against humanity and abuses against political and religious opponents. Iraq has faced criticism from human rights groups over its application of the death penalty.
The National Security Service said that Saadoun Sabri Al-Qaisi, who held the rank of major general under Saddam and was arrested last year, was convicted of “grave crimes against humanity,” including the killing of prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric Mohammed Baqir Al-Sadr, members of the Al-Hakim family, and other civilians.
The agency did not say when Al-Qaisi was executed.
Al-Sadr was a leading critic of Iraq’s secular Baathist government and Saddam, his opposition intensifying following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, which heightened Saddam’s fears of a Shiite-led uprising in Iraq.
In 1980, as the government moved against Shiite activists, Al-Sadr and his sister Bint Al-Huda — a religious scholar and activist who spoke out against government oppression — were arrested. Reports indicate they were tortured before being executed by hanging on April 8, 1980.
The execution sparked widespread outrage at the time and remains a symbol of repression under Saddam’s rule. Saddam was from Iraq’s Sunni minority.
Since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, authorities have pursued former officials accused of crimes against humanity and abuses against political and religious opponents. Iraq has faced criticism from human rights groups over its application of the death penalty.
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