MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A group of German lawmakers visited German servicemen deployed at the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey on Wednesday. The delegation was headed by Deputy Chairman of the Defense Committee of the German Parliament Karl Lamers and included Alexander Neu, among others.
"I cannot say that situation here [at the Incirlik Air Base] is tense… the relations [between German and Turkish servicemen] at good professional level. And policy does not seem to play any role here," German lawmaker Alexander Neu told Sputnik.
Neu said that "the most acute phase of the ‘Ice Age’ is over", although time is yet needed for the relations between Germany and Turkey to turn back to normal.
On August 29, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said German officials would be able to visit the base provided the German government took steps to distance itself from the Bundestag resolution. On September 2, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said that the Bundestag resolution was not legally binding.
The Incirlik Air Base hosts six German Tornado reconnaissance aircraft, as well as jets from the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Qatar participating in the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIL, also known as Daesh) jihadist group, outlawed in many countries.
