AFP, ISTANBUL: The United States has asked Ankara for permission to station dozens of warplanes at a base in southern Turkey, which the US air force used to enforce a no-fly zone over northern Iraq prior to last year's invasion of the country, media reports said Thursday.
The deputy chief of the Turkish army, General Ilker Basbug, confirmed that they had received requests from the United States concerning the Incirlik base, without disclosing details.
“The requests are being evaluated,” Basbug told reporters in Istanbul.
Both the NTV news channel and the Internet edition of the Milliyet newspaper reported that the United States had asked for permission to station 48 warplanes at Incirlik.
Basbug said an existing cooperation agreement between the two NATO allies allowed for the stationing of US jets at Incirlik only for training purposes.
Other missions will require an exclusive permission either by the Turkish government or the parliament, he added.
The Incirlik base was used by US and British fighter jets to patrol a no-fly zone over northern Iraq from the time of the Gulf War in 1991 until the invasion of Iraq last March.
Ankara then limited its use to logistical and humanitarian purposes.
US forces have also used the base for refuelling and troop rotation into Iraq and Afghanistan.
Washington has said it will like to use Incirlik as part of a project to realign its forces in Europe to better counter the threat of global terrorism.
Basbug declined to comment on reports that the United States was also seeking to use Turkish bases on the Black Sea coast, in the north of the country.
Ankara is eager to improve its relations with Washington, which soured last year when the Turkish parliament rejected a US request to use Turkish territory for an invasion of northern Iraq.
