Germany Must Revoke Genocide Vote to Visit Incirlik Air Base says Cavusoglu

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, 2014 (Photo: AFP/Adem Altan)

ANKARA (Reuters)””Turkish permission for German lawmakers to visit the Incirlik air base will depend on the German government distancing itself from a resolution recognizing the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Monday.

Turkey, angered by a resolution passed by the German parliament in June that described the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as a genocide, has denied German lawmakers access to the base near the Syrian frontier.

Six German surveillance jets and a refueling tanker are using it to support the U.S.-led coalition’s strikes on Islamic State. Some German lawmakers have threatened to end the mission unless Ankara allows them to visit.

“It depends on the steps taken by Germany. If they take the necessary steps we will enable this visit,”