Implies US Is Not Its Friend Due To Harboring Cleric Accused Of Staging Coup
Submitted by IWB, on July 16th, 2016
DAILY SABAHVerified account @DailySabah 4h4 hours ago
Turkey's İncirlik Air Base - used by US-led coalition to hit Daesh - sealed off, power cut off, US Consulate sayshttp://sabahdai.ly/l2uQbC
Conflict News@Conflicts 4h4 hours ago
BREAKING: Turkey's İncirlik Air Base - used by US-led coalition to hit ISIS- sealed off, power cut off, US Consulate says - @DailySabah
US: Turkey’s Incirlik air base used to fight ‘IS’ is sealed off, power cut
The US consulate in Turkey says the Incirlik air base has been placed in lockdown. The base is used by the US-led coalition, including Germany, to launch airstrikes against “Islamic State.”
A message on the website of the US consulate in Adana said Saturday that “local authorities were denying movements on to and off of Incirlik air base.” It advised US citizens to avoid the facility until normal operations had been restored.
The sealing-off of the facility, which houses as many as 80 nuclear bombs, follows a coup attempt by a faction within Turkey’s military a day earlier.
Movement in and out of the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey has been closed by local military authorities, according to the US consulate. The NATO base stores US tactical nuclear weapons.
“Local authorities are denying movements on to and off of Incirlik Air Base. The power there has also been cut,” the US consulate in Adana said in a message.
“Please avoid the air base until normal operations have been restored,” it added. No further details were provided.
According to CNN, airspace over the area has also been closed and power to the facility has been cut.
The closure of the airspace has reportedly led to a halt in US air strikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). CNN was told by sources that the Turkish authorities did make an exception for US aircraft that had already been deployed on missions before the airspace was shut and allowed them to land at the base.
The air space will be closed until Turkish authorities gain full control over the situation in the region following the coup attempt, Turkish officials told the US, adding that they want to make sure that all elements of the Turkish air force are under the control of pro-government forces, as some warplanes and helicopters were used by rebels overnight.
Turkey implies US is not its friend due to harboring cleric accused of staging coup
The Turkish government has indirectly criticized its NATO ally, the US, for harboring Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara blames for masterminding Friday’s military coup attempt. The cleric is currently living in self-imposed exile in the States.
“I do not see any country that would stand behind this man, this leader of the terrorist gang, especially after last night. The country that would stand behind this man is no friend to Turkey. It would even be a hostile act against Turkey,”Prime Minister Binali Y?ld?r?m told reporters on Saturday, as Turkey was recovering from overnight violence.
Gülen, a cleric, was a political ally of Tayyip Erdogan when he was Turkey’s Prime Minister, but the two fell out and became bitter rivals. Ankara accuses Gülen of creating a “parallel state” in the form of a network of supporters among Turkish officials. Erdogan accused Gülen of masterminding a corruption scandal involving senior government figures in 2013, and launched a crackdown against his organization.
0 comments:
Post a Comment