Turkish
Police Block Access to NATO's Incirlik Air Base - Home of US Nukes
All
inputs and outputs to the Incirlik Air Base located in Adana have
been closed as Turkish Minister of European Affairs cautions that it
is just a "safety inspection" while local newspapers
speculate that a second coup attempt may be underway.
31
July, 2016, 03.45 MSK
Some
7,000 armed police with heavy vehicles have surrounded and
blocked the Incirlik air base in Adana used by NATO forces,
already restricted in the aftermath of a failed coup.
Unconfirmed reports say troops were sent to deal with a new
coup attempt.
According
to the Turkish Minister for European Affairs, Omer Celik,
this is just a routine "safety inspection." Hurriyet,
by contrast, reports that anti-terror police received reports
of a second attempt by Gulenists to overthrow the
Erdogan regime.
Incirlik
Air Base, located in the province of Adana, is a critical
NATO base in Turkey. The US maintains 50 to 90 tactical
nuclear weapons at the base.
Local
media has focused on the base after the failed coup
in Turkey occurred the night of July 15. Although the main
scenes of the events were Istanbul and Ankara, Incirlik was shut
down for a time by local authorities shortly after the
putsch, and several Turkish soldiers from the base were deemed
by Turkish officials to be involved in the overthrow
attempt.
The
lockdown at Incirlik follows a massive wave of protests
on Thursday when pro-Erdogan nationalists took to the
streets yelling "death to the US" and called for the
immediate closure of the Incirlik base. Security personnel
dispersed the protesters before they were able to make it
to the base.
The
massive presence of armed police supported by heavy
vehicles calls into question the Turkish government's official
line that the lock down at the Incirlik base is merely a "safety
inspection."
Levent Tekin
The
situation continues to develop in front of NATO's
Incirlik Air Base as more heavy trucks have been dispatched
to surround and block access to the critical military
facility that is at the heart of the defense alliance's air
campaign to combat terror in Syria.
NiNoVa
12:02 PM - 31 Jul 2016
Turkish
European Affairs Minister took to Twitter to once again
assert that there was a "general security check"
at Incirlik Air Base and that "nothing is wrong"
there.
A
big fat nothing from western news agencies, but this from the BBC.
Turkey's President Erdogan seeks to rein in spy agency after coup
Turkey's
president has said he wants to close the nation's military academies
and put the spy agency and the military chief of staff under his own
control.
Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said the proposals would be brought before parliament.
The
measures are the latest in a large-scale crackdown launched after the
failed coup on 15 July.
The
authorities say Fetullah Gulen was behind the army-led coup in which
at least 246 people died. The US-based cleric denies the allegation
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