Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Wednesday that the Turkish people want to revoke US access to İncirlik Air Base in the south of Turkey.
Stating that there has been a trust problem with the US, Çavuşoğlu told the Anatolia news agency that people are asking the government why they allow the US to continue to use the base.
However, Çavuşoğlu also underlined the importance of the US as an ally for Turkey. “But there is the fact that there are trust issues. We did not see any air force support from the US in the al-Bab operation,” Çavuşoğlu pointed out in reference to Turkey’s military offensive in northern Syria against targets of terrorist the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
İncirlik is considered a pivotal and convenient location for US operations in Syria and in the greater region.
In August, amid rapprochement with Moscow, Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım had said that “if necessary” Russia could use İncirlik Air Base as well.
