German MPs call for withdrawing troops from Turkish airbase

In June, German parliament had approved a resolution calling the deaths of Ottoman Armenians in 1915 as “genocide”.

Von der Leyen said closer military ties between member states could help ease the frustration that many voters feel about the EU’s inability to tackle major issues.

A leader of Germany’s opposition Greens, Cem Özdemir, who is of ethnic Turkish origin, told ARD television the situation was unacceptable.

“Let everyone know that the German soldiers will not stay long in Incirlik until to receive appropriate attitude”, he said in an interview to Süddeutsche Zeitung. “But I believe it was important that we talked them through”.

Now, several German lawmakers said the country’s soldiers should be withdrawn if Ankara continues to prevent parliamentarians from visiting the station. “If that is not possible in Turkey then the soldiers must come back to Germany”.

Ankara had banned German lawmakers from visiting Turkish military personnel deployed to Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base, saying they only allow military and technical personnel to visit their military facilities.

Lawmakers approve military spending and investment in infrastructure at the base.

Andreas Scheuer, the general secretary the Christian Social Union (CSU) – the Bavarian sister party to Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) – has also called for access to the base.

Merkel and the Turkish president met on Saturday on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Warsaw for the first time since the parliament vote, but failed to come to an agreement on access to Germany’s troops in Turkey. “We must continue to work on this, the solution is not yet there”.

He said because of differences in the two nations’ laws, “the visit of the German delegation is not yet certain”.

“As a result of his behaviour, Turkish President Erdogan is risking the withdrawal of the German army”, he told Monday’s Tagesspiegel daily, according to extracts sent in advance. Even so, Merkel said last week that “much remains to be done” before Germany reaches NATO’s goal of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.

Ankara rejects the term “genocide” and says 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians, and at least as many Turks perished between 1915 and 1917, in what the Turkish government sees as the “casualties” of World War I. Only a few countries, including France and Russian Federation, officially recognize the events as genocide.