A delegation of seven German lawmakers visited the NATO military base in Turkey’s central Anatolian province of Konya on Friday.
The visit to the Konya 3rd Main Jet Base Command was attended by senior NATO officials headed by NATO Deputy Secretary-General Rose Gottemoeller.
The delegation flew to Turkey from Brussels, Belgium, where NATO’s headquarters is based.
Over a dozen German troops operating NATO’s early warning aircrafts in the fight against Daesh are positioned at the Konya base.
Turkey permitted German officials to visit the Konya base in a reconciliatory move after a visit to the İncirlik base in the southern province of Adana was blocked for political reasons.
Turkey-Germany relations have been strained lately particularly after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she would talk to EU leaders about halting Turkey’s EU accession talks in a televised debate on Sunday. Many European state ministers such as France and Finland have since then stated that they were “against ending membership talks with Turkey.”
