Date of German Lawmakers' Visit to NATO Airbase in Turkey Revealed

According to Turkish Foreign Ministry, the visit by German lawmakers to the NATO air base in Konya will take place on September 8.

ANKARA (Sputnik) – The visit by German lawmakers to the NATO air base in Konya has been agreed and will take place on September 8, details are being worked out, according to a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement obtained by Sputnik on Thursday.

"Regarding the visit by German lawmakers to the NATO base in Konya: details are being agreed between the two ministers, as well as at the level of the NATO secretary general. The visit with the participation of a high-ranking NATO representative is scheduled for September 8," the statement said.

In mid-July, Turkey banned the Bundestag Defense Committee from conducting a visit to the NATO base in Konya set for July 17. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert later explained that the visit was not canceled, but rather postponed to a later date.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in July said he was concerned about the Turkish authorities' decision to postpone the visit.

The relations between Berlin and Ankara became tense in recent months after Germany banned Ankara from holding pre-referendum rallies on German soil, and Turkey refused to allow German lawmakers visit the Incirlik base in southeastern Turkey, where German troops are deployed. After that Berlin decided to withdraw its troops from the Incirlik.