Turkey grants German lawmakers access to soldiers as part of NATO trip – POLITICO.eu

A German Tornado jet is pictured on the ground at the air base in Incirlik, Turkey | Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images

Members of the German parliament will visit troops stationed at an air base near Konya in September.

By Connor Murphy

8/8/17, 2:16 PM CET

The Turkish government will allow German lawmakers to visit soldiers stationed at an airbase in Turkey as part of a NATO delegation next month, local media reported Tuesday.

In a letter to the head of Germanys parliamentary defense committee, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the Turkish government agreed to a NATO proposal which allows German members of parliament to visit troops stationed at an air base near Konya on September 8.

Gabriel said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlt avuolu agreed to the proposal.

Germany withdrew its troops from Incirlik air base in southern Turkey in July after Ankara repeatedly refused to grant German lawmakers access to the base. Turkey also blocked a delegation of MPs from visiting the air base near Konya in mid-July.

Under the proposal, NATO Deputy Secretary-General Rose Gottemoeller can take up to seven members of the German parliamentary defense committee with her on a trip to Konya.

This is in our interest, said Wolfgang Hellmich, chairman of the parliamentary defense committee. This is an important step in making it clear to NATO that the right to visit is indispensable.

Hellmich added that visiting as part of a NATO delegation does not replace a Bundestag visit, but is an important step to defuse a conflict that was not at all useful to NATO.

The move comes as the diplomatic rift between Ankara and Berlin continues to worsen. On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan accused Germany of abetting terrorists. EU Budget Commissioner Gnther Oettinger told Bild on Monday it was very unlikely the EU would hand over the remainder of a promised 4.3 billion of pre-accession aid to Turkey because of the countrys recent autocratic turn.

See the original post here:
Turkey grants German lawmakers access to soldiers as part of NATO trip - POLITICO.eu