German Defense Minister to visit Turkey's Incirlik base despite snubJune 27, 2016 - 17:04 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen is to meet German troops at Turkey's Incirlik air base, despite a diplomatic row, Deutsche Welle reports. Last week, Ankara denied a German parliamentary delegation access to the facility. "It goes without saying that the leaders of the German Defense Ministry visit their soldiers in action," von der Leyen told the German newspaper "Bild am Sonntag" on Sunday. She said she was planning a trip to the Incirlik air base in the coming days despite Turkey's refusal to allow a delegation from Germany's Bundestag to visit next month. Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that "the visit of non-military delegations and especially of politicians to the base is not seen as suitable," DW reports. Von der Leyen blasted the decision, telling the paper "I have never experienced anything like this," adding that she would also use her visit "to explain to Turkey what it means to have a military under parliamentary control." "These are the same members of parliament who raised their hands for the Patriot mission of the German military to protect Turkey from Syrian missiles," she said, referring to a three-year deployment of NATO anti-missile systems in southern Turkey that ended last year. Relations between Berlin and Ankara hit a new low earlier this month when the German parliament unanimously voted to label the 1915-16 mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman-Turks as genocide. Germany has around 250 troops and several Tornado jets stationed at the base, a strategically important site in southern Turkey for the U.S.-led air campaign against the "Islamic State" extremist group in Iraq and Syria. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |