Germany to withdraw troops from Turkey

GERMANY is to pull troops and aircraft taking part in missions against Isil out of Turkey in a major diplomatic row between the two Nato allies.

Sigmar Gabriel, the German foreign minister, said yesterday that Turkey had left his country with no choice but to begin withdrawing its forces.

Germany has 260 troops and several Tornado aircraft flying reconnaissance missions for Western air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) based at Turkey’s Incirlik air base.

Turkey has been blocking German MPS from visiting the troops in apparent retaliation after Germany gave asylum to Turkish officers who fled in the wake of last year’s failed coup attempt.

Mr Gabriel flew to Ankara yesterday to resolve the row, but talks rapidly broke down and Binali Yildirim, the Turkish prime minister, refused to see him, calling off a planned meeting.

“We will have to move the troops out of Incirlik. The Bundeswehr cannot stay there,” he said after talks with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.

“Turkey has made clear that, for domestic political reasons, it cannot approve visits by all MPS. Turkey must understand that in this situation, we must transfer German soldiers out of Incirlik.”

Mr Gabriel reportedly demanded a written assurance that German MPS would be allowed to visit the troops.

But Mr Cavusoglu countered by claiming that some German MPS are in contact with the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and could not be allowed on the airbase for security reasons.

He offered to allow visits to German troops stationed at another base in Konya, but refused it for Incirlik.

Germany is now expected to continue anti-isil operations from another location, most likely Jordan.