Germany says in talks with Turkey to allow lawmakers to visit air base

Germany is in discussions with Turkey to ensure that its lawmakers can visit some 250 German soldiers stationed at  Turkey's Incirlik Air Base to support the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.    

 

Merkel said the German Bundeswehr was operating effectively from the base as part of a U.S.-led coalition, and she hoped that would continue. She welcomed comments from Turkey underscoring that the base is also a NATO installation.     

 

German lawmakers have threatened to end the German military mission unless Ankara allows them to visit the base. Turkey in June denied lawmakers access to the base, angered by a German parliamentary resolution that branded the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide, and has said it may block a similar visit in October.