Is Incirlik Air Base being held hostage by Turkey?

Vero Beach, FL – (TRUNEWS) For a fifth consecutive day, Turkey has intentionally withheld power and vital supplies from the U.S.-NATO joint installation Incirlik Air Base.

According to our sources, verified by TRUNEWS as parents and spouses of U.S. airmen currently stationed at Incirlik Air Base, no supplies have been flown or driven into the installation since Saturday, food and water are being strictly rationed, and only one week of fuel reserves remain to power their electric generators.

A wife of a Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) trapped in Incirlik Air Base told TRUNEWS correspondent Edward Szall that her husband ate only one meal Saturday at the bases dining facilities, and has since been sustaining himself on junk food and snacks.

“He told me that everyone is getting irritable, lots of amenities being taken away it’s starting to get to people,” the spouse said Tuesday night.

A mother of an airmen sequestered inside Incirlik told TRUNEWS that her son informed her early Wednesday that Turkish police are still blockading the base entrance, and that the electric generators — powering flight operations and the underground bunkers housing B-61 nuclear bombs — would remain on until fuel rations were extinguished. Her son also claimed that Secretary of Defense Ash Carter vetoed a plan to transfer all personnel and equipment from the base after the military coup began Friday night, citing that the move was “too expensive”.

On the July 19^th edition of TRUNEWS, host Rick Wiles interviewed Hans Kristensen, the Director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, regarding the nuclear armaments housed at Incirlik Air Base. During the interview Mr. Kristensen noted the B-61 warheads would take approximately three weeks to transfer from the underground bunkers in the event of an emergency, even with a full military contingency facilitating the move.

Another mother of an airmen on deployment inside Incirlik told TRUNEWS that soldiers have ripped the doors and windows out of the bases dorm rooms to alleviate overheating among personnel — an issue steadily growing as air conditioning has been segmented solely for mission critical buildings. The mother, who wished to be referred to as “GP” to protect her sons identity, said he also told her Wednesday that the base only had fuel reserves for one more week of operations, and that after a week they are going to “shut-off the networks”.

TRUNEWS has also been in direct contact with airmen stationed at Incirlik, and other than confirming previous reports that the base is still in lockdown and experiencing supply shortages, the soldiers unanimously believe the severing of commercial electricity to the base was an intentional move to leverage the United States government.

On the July 19^th edition of TRUNEWS, Retired 4-Star U.S. Navy Admiral James A. “Ace” Lyons told Rick Wiles that Turkey — as a NATO partner — has had their military personnel trained by U.S. counterparts on the procedures for transferring, loading, and using the nuclear warheads located under Incirlik Air Base.

Both the Public Affairs office at Incirlik Air Base and the 39^th Mission Support Group commander, USAF Colonel Todd Stratton, have been contacted for comment.

In addition to the blockade,Turkish politicians loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have publicly expressing concerns that U.S. officials used Incirlik Air Base to assist Friday’s military coup.

Debkafile reported Wednesday that Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim publicly insinuated that Americans may be viewed as partners, at least passive ones, in the conspiracy, in view of the use the plotters made of Incirlik for sending aircraft based there and arming them for the missions of intercepting the President’s airplane (which was never realized) and bombing the Parliament building in Ankara (which was).

Being more explicit, the Turkish Labor Minister, Süleyman Soylu, tweeted from his publicly verified twitter account:

“This coup has America behind.”

On Monday, a renowned Middle East correspondent named RamiAILolah, whose reports are often featured on ZeroHedge.com, led a call for a unified social media campaign under the hashtag “#CloseIncirlik”, tweeting to his followers:

“We all know they are war criminals but I need to do my part and so do you. I have a Twitter account & I need to do something.. Please tell your friends, families, everyone oppose the #USA terror strikes in #Syria & #Iraq about #CloseIncirlik. Spread it everywhere.”

RamiAlLolah also associated the #CloseIncirlik hashtag with the death of USAF 1^st Lieutenant Anais Tobar, who was found dead in her room Wednesday, on a U.S. military base in the United Arab Emerites.

RamiAlLolah tweeted Wednesday:

“Ghosts of #Syria|n children? Anti-#ISIS #USA soldier Lt. Anais Tobar found dead in her room in #UAE”

#CloseIncirlik https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CnzNJX_W8AAI2jr.jpg”

A Twitter account named Abu Maryam also used the #CloseIncirlik hashtag Wednesday, tweeting:

“#CloseIncirlik #Muslims will take revenge on the citizens of the west bcos of it .”

In response to the crisis, Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Wednesday that he did not know when power may return to Incirlik Air Base.

Kerry said:

“we have not had our mission interrupted. Our mission continues, and we are told, our ambassador has been told, that the full power should be restored within a day or so to the base through the normal processes.”

 

Could Turkey be using Incirlik Air Base as a bargaining tool to form a nuclear caliphate? Could Incirlik Air Base be the next Benghazi?

 

Please contact TRUNEWS correspondent Edward Szall with any news tips related to this story.

Email: Edward.Szall@trunews.com | Twitter: @@EdwardSzall | Facebook: Edward Szall | Cell: 321-200-6431