Turkey Uses Incirlik Air Base to Put Pressure on Washington

Turkey Uses Incirlik Air Base to Put Pressure on Washington
Fecha de publicación: 
1 March 2017
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Turkey could deny the use of Incirlik Air Base to the United States if Kurdish militias in northern Syria participate in the offensive against Raqqa in the hands of the Islamic State (IS), according to Yeni Safak.

The leak is not official, but Ankara usually uses this large-scale Islamist newspaper to probe and prepare states of opinion, and on this issue it has repeatedly expressed its refusal for the Democratic Union and People's Protection Units (YPG), considered by Turkey terrorist organizations, to participate in the military campaign.

Washington senior officials showed the Turkish government days ago their intention to have Kurdish units in the operation against Raqqa, so today's announcement would be a form of pressure using an air base of strategic importance for the United States in the region.

Incirlik Air Base, near the border with Syria, is used by the international coalition against the IS and it has troops and combat aircraft from 13 NATO countries, in addition to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

However, Ankara also previously denounced the lack of air support by its NATO allies in the cross-border offensive called the Euphrates Shield, directed against the IS in northern Syria and started on 24 August 2016.

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