Monday, June 3, 2013

US personnel at Incirlik in Muslim Turkey warned on anti-government protests

 

US personnel at Incirlik warned on anti-government protests

Stars and Stripes

 

Published: June 3, 2013

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The 39th Air Base Wing has advised U.S. military personnel in Turkey to be extra vigilant and avoid certain areas amid a spate of recent street protests.

Incirlik Air Base, which has the largest concentration of servicemembers in Turkey, is only a few miles from Adana, which is among the cities that have seen protesters demonstrating against their own government in recent days.

“As the situation unfolds, we’re monitoring it,” said 1st Lt. David Liapis, public affairs officer for the base. “The main thing is keeping our people informed on what’s going on.”

All military personnel at Incirlik live on base. That’s not the case in other places with U.S. personnel such as Izmir and Ankara, which have also seen some protests, according to media reports.

Liapis said that although the demonstrations did not appear to be anti-American or anti-NATO in nature, servicemembers and their families have been told to stay away from planned rallies.

He declined to cite any specific security measures taken at Incirlik — an active Turkish air base largely controlled by Turkish forces.

“It’s dynamic,” Liapis said. “We’re always assessing where we’re at.”

He said that the current protests have been far less visible to base personnel than demonstrations outside the gates in January and February following a Turkish newspaper’s account of a broken window at a mosque on base.

news@stripes.com

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