PROTESTERS OUTSIDE INCIRLIK BASE IN TURKEY DEMAND WITHDRAWAL OF US TROOPS

Wed 28 April 2021:

Demonstrators gathered outside Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, where an American contingent is housed, to demand the authorities close the military facility and expel the troops in response to Washington’s decision to recognize the Armenian genocide last weekend.

On Saturday, Biden used the word “genocide” to describe the persecution of the Armenian people by the Ottoman authorities in his Armenian Remembrance Day statement, prompting objections from Ankara.

“For half a century, the Incirlik base has been a nest of US agents, terrorism, [and] one of the centers of [the 2016 coup attempt] and served as a shelter for its organizers. It is an enemy center, used against our neighbors and brethren in Central Asia. We are calling to have the Incirlik and Kurecik [bases] transferred to the Turkish air force; the US troops should be sent home within 15 days,” the vice chairman of the party, Serdar Uskupu, said in his speech at the protest.

The demonstrators carried Turkish flags and banners saying “exit NATO – the enemy of Ataturk”, “Close Incirlik for the US in response to lies about genocide”, and “No to NATO. This is our land!”

Biden’s decision has been harshly condemned by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “groundless” and “disappointing”. He stated that the move will have a “destructive impact” on US-Turkish ties, but did not elaborate on the repercussions.

The party already held protests outside of the US Embassy in Ankara as well as the Consulate General in Istanbul, demanding the US military bases be shut down, and Crimea recognized as Russian territory.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Armenians found themselves an increasingly persecuted minority within the ailing Ottoman Empire. In 1915, according to several historians, more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed. The events have been recognized as a genocide by the governments and parliaments of over 30 countries. Turkey, which traditionally rejects accusations of genocide, warned the Biden administration that such a move by the US would hurt bilateral relations.