© AP Photo/ Emrah Gure
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At the same time Yildirim added that
there were no need in Moscow's use of the base, because Russia possessed facilities located in Syria that was not far from Incirlik.
"This information is not correct, but
if necessary the Incirlik base could be used," Yildirim told reporters, answering a question about Moscow's alleged request for use of the base, as quoted by the Turkish Anadolu news agency.
Russia has been conducting an aerial campaign against terrorists in Syria since September 30, 2015 at President Bashar Assad's request. The majority of operations is conducted from Russian air base Hmeimim in Syria, while country's Aerospace Forces are also conducting sorties from Russia and from Iran's Hamadan base.
Incirlik military base is used by the United States and shelters combat planes of the US-led coalition launching airstrikes in Syria and Iraq against the Daesh group outlawed in many countries, including Russia.
Comment: Turkey continues to appear to be distancing itself from NATO and moving closer to Russia after the failed NATO-backed Turkish coup attempt. This news comes after
reports that Russian officials reached out to Ankara, requesting access to the base:
Russia has called on Turkey to provide access to NATO's Incirlik Air Base, the critical launch pad for US and coalition airstrikes in Syria, in a bid to expand the country's influence in the Middle East and to further the goal of combatting radical jihadist groups, primarily Daesh and al-Nusra, that threaten peace and stability in Syria.
...
"It just remains to come to an agreement with Erdogan that we get the NATO base Incirlik as [our] primary airbase," Senator Igor Morozov, a member of the upper house's committee on international affairs said reports the British newspaper The Times. He explained that the development would enable the Russian air force to engage in "constant bombing" of Daesh and other jihadist groups to bring the conflict to a resolution faster.
"You'll see, the next base will be Incirlik," he told Izvestia after the Kremlin revealed this week that its bombers had started flying out of Iran to launch attack on Syria. "This will be one more victory for Putin."
Another Senator, Viktor Ozerov, told RIA Novosti, "It's not certain that Russia needs Incirlik, but such a decision would be seen as a real willingness on Turkey's part to cooperate with Russia in the war against terrorism in Syria."
Comment: Turkey continues to appear to be distancing itself from NATO and moving closer to Russia after the failed NATO-backed Turkish coup attempt. This news comes after reports that Russian officials reached out to Ankara, requesting access to the base: