German lawmakers arrive in Turkey for Incirlik visit

ANKARA

German lawmakers visited the Turkish Grand National Assembly on Tuesday ahead of a visit to their servicemen and women at the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey.

They were welcomed by Yusuf Beyazit, head of the Turkish parliament’s defense committee.

It is the first visit by German lawmakers to troops manning Patriot missile batteries since Germany and Turkey fell out over a Bundestag’s vote that referred to the deaths of Armenian Ottomans in 1915 as genocide.

“The statement of the federal government on Sept. 2, 2016, has normalized relations after the genocide row,” Beyazit said, referring to Berlin's declaration distancing itself from the resolution. “I hope the 1915 incidents will not be a political issue in Germany anymore.”

Karl Lamers, deputy chairman of the German parliament’s defense committee, said: “The threat of Daesh is a common threat that joins us and is also described by the United Nations as a threat for the peace of the world.

“Our visit to Incirlik base is within this scope.”

Ankara last week allowed German parliamentarians to visit troops at Incirlik in the southern province of Adana.

*Reporting by Ismail Cimen and Alper Atalay; Writing by Sibel Ugurlu