Politics

Rumors Of Thousands Of Police Surrounding Americans At Incirlik Air Base In Turkey – Again

No Comments

There are reports that the police have shut down the entrances and exits to Incirlik air base where 1,500 U.S. soldiers are stationed. There are rumors that President Erdogan is shutting down another coup attempt – he accused us of collaborating with the military that allegedly attempted the coup, so this could be a precursor to an anti-American action by the despot.

From Sputnik News:

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.

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, Omar Celik, this is just a routine “safety inspection.” Hurriyet, by contrast, has raised concern that the closing may be tied to an attempt by the Erdogan regime to prevent a second coup attempt.

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.

UPDATE Sunday 9:05 AM EST:

It looks like the official story is rather mundane, as Bloomberg explains:

Turkish authorities restored access to and from a key air base used in operations against Islamic State militants, local media reported on Sunday, one day before the U.S. top military official is scheduled to visit the country.

Incirlik air base in southern Turkey reopened following a meeting with security officials. Police used armored cars to block the gates earlier Sunday following intelligence that raised suspicion another coup was being plotted following the failed July 15 putsch, Ihlas News Agency reported, without saying where it got the information. The ban lasted four hours, the agency said.

Now the more extreme story might have happened here, but there’s very little evidence of it. It does appear that RT and Sputnik exaggerated their stories. Perhaps Putin was attempting to inflame emotions between Turkey and America. Which is certainly believable…

Here’s more from Stars and Stripes on what actually happened. 

UPDATE 9:35 PM EST:

Seeing a lot of conflicting stories, and rumors.

I’ve seen this reported a lot:

‪#‎Turkey‬ Turkish Minister says activity at ‪#‎Incirlik‬ is “general security check,” “nothing wrong there.” Armed “safety inspection” with protestors and large trucks blocking the roads in and out of the base in the middle of the night.

https://twitter.com/Leftsucks/status/759559052829614083

It could be that our media is being very circumspect to report while our government negotiates with Turkey, OR this is all being whipped up by the Russians, or the Turks, or both. I haven’t seen any new information worth reporting.

More from social media:

I’m seeing rumors that this is just a “rehearsal” and that things are back to normal. There’s also an account posting these videos of the Turkish people joining the police and chanting out side the American consulate:

A lot of the reporting is from Sputnik News and RT, both owned by Putin, so bear it with a grain of salt.

Michelle Obama Doubles Down On Liberal Re-Defining Of America’s Greatness From 2008