Turkey’s prime minister says his country will allow Germany’s defense minister to visit an air base where German troops are stationed, days after a German deputy defense minister and lawmakers were denied a visit.
The denial was largely seen as Turkey’s retaliation against a German Parliament vote to call the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago “genocide.”
Binali Yildirim told reporters on Monday that Turkey would permit Ursula von der Leyen to visit the Incirlik base which is central to the fight against the Islamic State group.
He said: “the German defense minister can visit Incirlik with ease, there is no problem.”
The German minister said she wanted to visit the base, insisting it was normal for the defense minister to visit German soldiers on a mission.
Credit : Associate Press (AP) Photo Credit: AP
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