German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has turned to
Washington for help in resolving its row with Ankara. Earlier this week, German
lawmakers were denied permission to visit 260 troops serving at Turkey's
Incirlik airbase in the campaign against Islamic State.
"We have again asked the Americans for support in our
talks with Turkey,” Gabriel said in Washington on Wednesday, following a
meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
“It is unthinkable for a NATO partner to put pressure on
each other regarding German parliamentarians visiting German armed force,” he
added, as cited by German newspaper Zeit.
"I believe that the Americans will also use the
opportunities they have to talk to the Turkish side to say that we must have a
different relationship with each other than the current one," the German
FM said.
On Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said
that Germany has carte blanche to withdraw its troops stationed at Incirlik.
"If they want to leave, that is up to them,"
Cavusoglu said in an interview with broadcaster NTV, as cited by Reuters.
"We are not going to beg. They were the ones who wanted to come and we
helped them. If they want to go, we would say 'Goodbye,'" he said, adding
that Ankara was not trying to blackmail Berlin by denying German lawmakers
access to Incirlik. Turkish officials told Reuters that such a visit would
simply not be appropriate at the moment.
To read more on the news,visit www.rt.com/news/388830-turkey-germany-incirlik-row/
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