Turkish Media: Incirlik Airbase Commander Arrested

According to Turkey’s Dogan news agency, the top commander of Incirlic airbase, Bakir Ercan Van was among the six thousand military and judiciary personnel arrested across Turkey on suspicion of  involvement in the abortive coup.

Incirlik is one of the bases that is used by the NATO. The United States is using the airbase for bombing and reconnaissance missions in Northern Syria and Iraq.

The development comes after Turkish authorities accused the US of involving in organization of Friday’s military coup attempt in Turkey and stopped the movements into and out of the airbase. The air base is considered the main location in Turkey that US servicemen are based in, and its closure led to an halt to US airstrikes against ISIL over Syria.

The Turkish minister, Süleyman Soylu claimed in an interview with Haberturk TV that Washington is behind the attempted coup in Turkey.

“The US is behind the coup attempt. A few journals that are published in the US have been conducting activities for several months. For many months we have sent requests to the US concerning Fethullah Gulen. The US must extradite him,” he said.

An attempted Turkish military coup crumbled on Saturday after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan’s call to take to the streets to support him and dozens of rebel soldiers abandoned their tanks in the main city of Istanbul.