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Erdogan's Revenge! German MPs Banned From Visiting Own Troops in Turkey

© Flickr / World Humanitarian SummitIncreased tensions between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Angela Merkel after Turkey ban MPs from airbase
Increased tensions between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Angela Merkel after Turkey ban MPs from airbase - Sputnik International
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Turkey 'pays back' Germany by preventing their MPs from visiting their own troops, who are stationed at an airbase used by the Daesh coalition.

People queue for free food at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, May 11, 2016. - Sputnik International
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Ankara canceled a visit that was made by Germany's State Secretary for Defense, Ralf Braukiepe, and other government officials.

The visit, which was planned in July, was said to be to the Incirlik Air Base. However, German officials have been forbidden from visiting the area.

Last year, Germany sent surveillance jets to the base to assist the coalition in the battle against the terror group Daesh. Germany has 250 soldiers and six Tornado reconnaissance jets as well as a refueling plane stationed at the base in Ankara.

"The Turkish authorities at the moment are not approving the travel plans, there is no written statement on the reason," said a German defense ministry spokesman.

For Germany this new development seems like it will only create further divisions between the two countries, especially as talks continue around Turkey and when they will be given visa-free travel in the EU.

​For the Turkish authorities the issue is with politicians visiting the base as they appear to be completely fine with military and technical delegates. As the base is on Turkish territory they are completely within their legal right to prevent Germany from visit.

Relations between the two countries were strained after the Bundestag passed a resolution recognizing the 1915 mass killings of Armenians, committed by Turkey as "genocide."

Rally participants wave Armenian and German flags in front of the Reichstag, the seat of the lower house of parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, June 2, 2016, as they protest in favor of the approval of a symbolic resolution by Germany's parliament declaring the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a genocide - Sputnik International
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Following the Armenia genocide vote, Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused German MPs of being hypocrites and said they had no right to state their opinion on this issue and needed to atone for the Holocaust first.

​He also said German politicians of Turkish origin who voted in favor of the resolution had "tainted blood" and should undergo blood tests to prove their "Turkishness."

This coupled with the argument on free speech has only led to increased tensions between the two countries. As Berlin seeks to clamp down on Ankara's harsh free-speech laws, as well as the number of journalists, academics and media outlets that are imprisoned for speaking out or writing articles that do not show the government in a positive light, it appears relations between Germany and Turkey will remain stale for some time to come.

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