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Tag: Incirlik Air Base

  • NATO’s Eastern Anchor. 24 NATO bases in Turkey

    NATO’s Eastern Anchor. 24 NATO bases in Turkey

    The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has 24 military bases in Turkey, which is the western neighbor of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a report says.

    The report, published on the Iran-Balkan news agency (IRBA) on Thursday, listed the names and locations of NATO’s military bases in Turkey and noted that the country has become a regional power.

    NATO’s Incirlik Base, which is located eight kilometers (five miles) east of Adana, Turkey’s fifth largest city, and 56 kilometers (35 miles) from the Mediterranean Sea, is an important regional logistical air base of the alliance.

    Izmir Air Station is the facility of the United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE) in Izmir, located 320 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of Istanbul. Forty-two airplanes and Roland and Hawk missile systems, manned by 300 personnel, are based there.

    The Izmir Air Station is the oldest NATO base in Turkey and its importance has increased in recent years. The headquarters of NATO’s Allied Air Component Command for Southern Europe has been located in Izmir since August 11, 2004.

    The Sile Air Base has been built according to international standards for launching stinger missiles.

    The Konya 3rd Main Jet Base Group Command was the base of NATO’s AWACS aircraft during the Iraq war. Konya was a Turkish F-100 base in the mid-1970s and the air forces of Israel, Turkey, and the United States conducted their first joint exercises at the air base, codenamed Anatolian Eagle, in June 2001.

    The Ninth Main Jet Base of the Balikesir Air Base, in which six vault missile systems have been deployed, is located in the Turkish province of Balikesir in the Marmara region.

    The Merzifon Air Base is a military airport located in the city of Merzifon in Amasya province in the central Black Sea region. Merzifon is the base of the 5th Air Wing of the 2nd Air Force Command of the Turkish Air Force.

    The Bartin Air Base is located in the northern province of Bartin. The Bartin Naval Base, a submarine base of the Turkish Navy and assigned to the Turkish Northern Sea Area Command, is also in this area.

    Pirinclik Air Base is a 41-year-old US-Turkish military base located near the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. It was once NATO’s frontier post for monitoring the Soviet Union and the Middle East, but it was closed on September 30, 1997.

    The Eskisehir Air Base is a military airport located in the northwestern city of Eskisehir. Eskisehir is the home base of the 1st Air Wing of the 1st Air Force Command of the Turkish Air Force.

    The Iskenderun Naval Base is a base of the Turkish Navy on the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) east by northeast of Iskenderun city in the southern province of Hatay. It is assigned to the Turkish Navy’s Southern Sea Area Command.

    Bandirma Airport is a military airbase and public airport located in the city of Bandirma in Balikesir province. Bandirma is the base of the 6th Air Wing of the 1st Air Force Command of the Turkish Air Force.

    The Afion-Kara-Hissar Air Base is Turkey’s largest and NATO’s second largest air base and is the headquarters of NATO operations in the country.

    The Sarkisla Air Base in Sivas province is located in the eastern part of the Anatolian region, and the Bornova Air Base is located in Izmir province.

    The Luleburgaz Air Base is in the northwestern province of Kirklareli, and the Corlu Air Base is located in the northwestern city of Corlu in the province of Tekirdag.

    The Pazar Air Base is located in Pazar town in the northeastern province of Rize in the Black Sea region, the Erzurum Air Base is in the city of Erzurum in eastern Anatolia, and the Persembe Air Base is located in Ordu province on the Black Sea coast of Turkey.

    The Izmit Air Base in located in Kocaeli province, and the Kutahya Air Base is a military airport in the western province of Kutahya in the Aegean region.

    The Canakkale Air Base is in the northwestern province of Canakkale.

    NATO also has a military facility in Ankara.

    Combined Air Operations Center-6 (CAOC-6) in Eskisehir is one of the ten command centers in Europe used by the United States Air Force to provide command and control of air and space operations.

    NATO’s Air Component Command Headquarters is located in Izmir and NATO’s Rapid Deployable Corps-Turkey is headquartered in Istanbul.

    Turkey joined NATO in 1952 and serves as the organization’ s eastern anchor, as it controls the straits leading from the Black Sea to the Aegean and also has borders with Syria and Iraq.

    via NATO’s Eastern Anchor. 24 NATO bases in Turkey | Global Research.

  • An anti American story in Turkey known only by Iranian TV and Muslim media ! « lenziran | لنزایران

    An anti American story in Turkey known only by Iranian TV and Muslim media ! « lenziran | لنزایران

    The Iranian television report that a demonstration was held because American soldiers of the US base “Injirlik” insulted Quran , burned and damaged belongings of a mosque in the town of Adana , while no independent paper or TV reported such incident ! Islamic Republic have differences about Syria with its neighbor and angry with Turkey of installation of Patriot anti missile for defending Syrian missiles , operated by US base Injirlik staff .

    via An anti American story in Turkey known only by Iranian TV and Muslim media ! « lenziran | لنزایران.

    The Iranian television report that a demonstration was held because American soldiers of the US base “Injirlik” insulted Quran , burned and damaged belongings of a mosque in the town of Adana , while no independent paper or TV reported such incident ! Islamic Republic have differences about Syria with its neighbor and angry with Turkey of installation of Patriot anti missile for defending Turkey , operated by US base Injirlik staff .

  • U.S. Defense Secretary unexpectedly visits Turkey’s Incirlik base

    U.S. Defense Secretary unexpectedly visits Turkey’s Incirlik base

    US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta landed Friday at the Incirlik air base in Turkey that hosts US troops, as part of a tour that has also taken him to Afghanistan and Kuwait.

    The visit by the US defence chief comes a week after NATO approved Turkey’s request for Patriot missiles to defend its border with its war-torn neighbour Syria. A report in the New York Times on Friday said that the US plans to send two Patriot missile batteries and 400 personnel to Turkey.

    The United States plans to send two rocket-intercepting Patriot missile batteries and 400 military personnel to Turkey to deter Syrian attacks, the New York Times reported Friday.

    The Times said the move is part of a larger effort to beef up Turkey’s defenses as the civil war in neighboring Syria grows more violent, with another four Patriot batteries expected to be supplied by Germany and the Netherlands.

    The report comes after US officials said Syria launched a number of Scud missiles in recent days, and amid heightened fears that it could resort to using its vast chemical weapons arsenal against advancing rebels.

    Turkey has strongly backed the 21-month-old rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but fears he could lash out against it in desperation if the conflict grinds on.

    US officials could not immediately be reached to comment on the Times report.

    NATO hails Patriot deployment, insists ‘defensive only’

    NATO on Friday welcomed a US order to deploy two Patriot missile batteries and some 400 personnel near Turkey’s border with Syria while insisting the move was purely defensive.

    “We welcome the United States’ contribution of two Patriot missile batteries to augment Turkey’s air defences,” said NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu after US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta issued the order to deploy the Patriots before landing in Turkey.

    “This is a strong commitment to Alliance solidarity and security,” Lungescu said.

    “The deployment will be defensive only. It will not support a no-fly zone or any offensive operation,” she added.

    “Its aim is to deter any threats to Turkey, to defend Turkey’s population and territory and to de-escalate the crisis on NATO’s southeastern border.” NATO also welcomed the intention of Germany and The Netherlands to contribute two batteries each.

    The deployment aims to bolster Turkey’s air defences amid tension on the Turkish-Syrian border.hurriyet

    via U.S. Defense Secretary unexpectedly visits Turkey’s ?ncirlik base.

  • Is Incirlik airbase in Turkey being used to direct military and communications aid to Syria’s rebels

    Is Incirlik airbase in Turkey being used to direct military and communications aid to Syria’s rebels

    Is Incirlik airbase in Turkey being used to direct military and communications aid to Syria’s rebels August 2, 2012

    Posted by Richard Clements in Drones, Syria.

    predator incirlik

    According to an interesting article recently published by Reuters Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have set up a secret base in the Turkish city of Adana, some 100 km (60miles) from the Syrian border, whose purpose is to direct arms and communication aid supplies to Syrian opposition forces.

    “It’s the Turks who are militarily controlling it. Turkey is the main co-ordinator/facilitator. Think of a triangle, with Turkey at the top and Saudi Arabia and Qatar at the bottom” said Reuters source based in Doha.

    “The Americans are very hands off on this, U.S intel(ligence) are working through middlemen, middlemen are controlling access to weapons and routes.”

    As mentioned above, Adana is close to the Syrian border but also is home to Incirlik airbase, a strategic U.S. military installation located some 8 km from the town.

    It is unclear whether the alleged “nerve centre” is located within the confines of the huge airbase.

    However, since the base is believed to be used along with other airports in the Gulf area (as Al Dhafra, in the UAE) to launch spy missions over or near Syria, the proximity of the “rebels support center” to the American drones raises some questions: are drones being flown from Incirlik providing the “middlemen” with the intel they require to provide logistics and communications to the rebels?

    An MQ-1B Predator from the 414th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron sits on the flightline Feb. 14, 2012, at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. (U.S. Air Force photo) Note the lack of markings on this drone: a typical feature of robots operating in “hot areas.”

    Indeed Obama administration has publicly admitted that it is providing “non-lethal” assistance to Assad’s opposition by means of communication equipment, even if some reports claim he has given the go ahead to clandestine support to Syria’s rebels.

    In the meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army has reportedly obtained nearly two dozen shoulder-fired missiles, weapons that could be used against regime’s helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

    According to NBC News, the MANPADS (of Soviet origin) have been delivered to the rebels via Turkey.

    On Jun. 22, a Turkish RF-4E Phantom was mysteriously downed by a Syrian Air Defense battery after violating Syria’s airspace.

    Written with David Cenciotti

    via Is Incirlik airbase in Turkey being used to direct military and communications aid to Syria’s rebels « The Aviationist.

  • Report: U.S. military can no longer rely on Turkey for regional ops

    Report: U.S. military can no longer rely on Turkey for regional ops

    WASHINGTON — The U.S. military maintains only limited access to facilities in Turkey, a report said.

    The American Enterprise Institute determined that the U.S. military could not rely on facilities in Turkey for regional operations, particularly an attack on Iran.

    12military

    An American cargo plane takes off from Incirlik Air Force Base in southeastern Turkey. /AFP

    In a Republican presidential debate in South Carolina on Jan. 16, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said that he had lived in Turkey while serving as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force and that the country had moved “far away” from where it was back then.

    Perry, who has dropped out of the GOP race, came under fire from the government of Turkey when he said in the debate that the current government, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist Justice and Development Party, is in the hands of “what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists” and that the country should have its membership in NATO reconsidered.

    In a report titled “Questions For Strategy, Requirements

    For Military Forces,” AEI said most of the U.S. military presence in Turkey

    was at the Incirlik Air Force Base.

    In all, the U.S. military deploys 1,500 troops at Incirlik, the report

    said. An unspecified number of U.S. personnel also served at NATO’s air

    operations facility in Izmir.

    The report listed U.S. military deployment that could be assigned to any

    war against Iran. AEI said Qatar contained 7,500 U.S. troops; Baharin, 5,000

    soldiers, and Kuwait, 23,000.

    The United Arab Emirates is said to contain 3,000 U.S. military

    personnel. The report said Oman also contained an unspecified U.S. presence

    with “limited access agreement to air bases until 2020.”

    via Report: U.S. military can no longer rely on Turkey for regional ops | World Tribune.

  • Clinton warns Iran over US presence in Turkey

    Clinton warns Iran over US presence in Turkey

    WASHINGTON

    US Secretary of State Clinton has warned Iran not to ‘miscalculate’ in Iraq, saying US military presence and that of its allies in the region, like Turkey, would remain strong after the withdrawal of all American combat forces by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad says Tehran’s ties with Baghdad are growing

    In this file photo, US soldiers ride horses next to the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. Clinton says the US presence will stay strong in the region after American pullout from Iraq.
    In this file photo, US soldiers ride horses next to the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. Clinton says the US presence will stay strong in the region after American pullout from Iraq.

    Iran should not misread the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq as affecting U.S. commitment to the fledgling democracy, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Oct. 23.

    President Barack Obama’s announcement Oct. 21 that all American troops would return from Iraq by the end of the year will close a chapter on U.S.-Iraq relations that began in 2003 with the U.S.-led invasion.

    Washington has long worried that meddling by Iran, a Shiite Muslim theocracy, could inflame tensions between Iraq’s Shiite-led government and its minority Sunnis, setting off a chain reaction of violence and disputes across the Middle East. Clinton said in a series of TV news show interviews that the U.S. would continue its training mission with Iraq, which would resemble operations in Colombia and elsewhere. While the U.S. will not have combat troops in Iraq, she said the American presence would remain strong because of its bases in the region. “Iran would be badly miscalculating if they did not look at the entire region and all of our presence in many countries, both in bases and in training with NATO allies, like Turkey,” she told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

    Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about fears of civil war in Iraq after U.S. troops leave, Clinton said: “Well, let’s find out … We know that the violence is not going to automatically end. No one should miscalculate America’s resolve and commitment to helping support the Iraqi democracy. We have paid too high a price to give the Iraqis this chance. And I hope that Iran and no one else miscalculates that.” In an interview released Oct. 22, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tehran has “a very good relationship” with Iraq’s government, and the relationship will continue to grow. “We have deepened our ties day by day,” Ahmadinejad said in the interview.

    Iranian-American due to enter plea over Saudi plot

    Meanwhile, an Iranian-American accused of plotting to hire Mexican gangsters to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington was due in federal court yesterday in New York, where he was expected to enter a plea. Manssor Arbabsiar, a naturalized U.S. citizen holding Iranian and U.S. passports who lived for many years in Texas where he worked as a used car salesman, was arrested last month in New York. He and co-defendant Gholam Shakuri, who is at large, allegedly conspired to “kill the ambassador to the U.S. of Saudi Arabia, while the ambassador was in the U.S.,” according to court documents. Iran has strongly denied any involvement in what the U.S. says was a plot by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds force to kill the ambassador by hiring assassins from a Mexican drug cartel for $1.5 million. The two co-defendants are also accused of planning for a “weapon of mass destruction” to be used against the ambassador.

    Compiled from AFP and AP stories by the Daily News staff.

    via Clinton warns Iran over US presence in Turkey – Hurriyet Daily News.