German lawmakers meet troops in central Turkey air base

By Savas Guler

KONYA, Turkey

Seven German lawmakers visited troops at Konya air base on Friday in a NATO-brokered deal with Ankara, a Turkish military source said.

Turkey had denied such a visit in July, citing strained relations between the countries over the last year.

Ties between the NATO allies have been disrupted by a string of diplomatic arguments over issues such as the arrest of several German nationals and Germany’s alleged harboring of terror suspects.

Most recently, Germany has called for an end to Turkey’s bid to join the EU and has warned against its citizens visiting the country.

Under the German constitution, its military is controlled by parliament and Bundestag members insist on their right to visit troops stationed overseas.

Around 30 German military personnel are based at Konya, central Turkey, where they are serving with NATO. The military source spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

In June, Germany withdrew around 260 troops from Incirlik air base in southeast Turkey after Ankara repeated refused permission for lawmakers to visit.

Turkey objected to comments by some of the proposed visiting lawmakers that it viewed as supporting the PKK, a terrorist group outlawed in the EU and U.S. that has waged a 33-year war on Turkey.

The Konya visit came after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stepped in to arrange a deal between Ankara and Berlin in July.

NATO's mission in Konya provides intelligence support to the international coalition fighting Daesh.