The German government will make the decision on whether to withdrawal German troops from the Turkish airbase İncirlik on Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told the Deutschlandfunk radio station in an interview on June 6.
"Yesterday, I had a quick phone call with Mrs [Defense Minister Ursula] von der Leyen as well as with Chancellor [Angela Merkel]. We rather quickly agreed that we would like to make the decision at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. And I think that the Defense Ministry has long been working on plans for the withdrawal," Gabriel said.
Berlin will have to pull its forces out of the base because of Turkish government restrictions on German lawmakers seeking to visit troops there, Gabriel said at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoglu on Monday.
According to Gabriel, it was more reasonable to transfer Germany’s Tornado jets to Jordan, while aircraft transfer to another Turkish air base in Konya was not possible "due to logistical reasons."
Map Source: Deutsche Welle
On Monday, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said the troops at İncirlik would be moved to a base in Jordan. "We are ready for a transfer," she said, adding that a comparable alternative had been identified at the Azraq air base in Jordan and that King Abdullah supported the move.
Germany's cabinet is to discuss and decide an eventual move on Wednesday, von der Leyen added.
In early May, Turkey blocked a group of German lawmakers from visiting servicemen stationed at İncirlik.
