After Spat With Turkey, Germany Moves anti-ISIS Planes to Jordan
German defense minister says refueling and reconnaissance aircraft should be in service in Jordan within weeks
Germany's defense minister hopes to start transferring planes serving in the international coalition against ISIS from Turkey to Jordan by mid-July.
- Germany to redeploy troops, aircraft from Turkish base to Jordan
- Turkey holds naval drill off Cyprus in heated response to Israeli commando exercise on its doorstep
- Israel's ground forces want their own air power, just like the U.S. Army has
The German government decided to withdraw its refueling and reconnaissance aircraft from Turkey's Incirlik base after Turkish officials refused to let lawmakers visit the roughly 270 German troops there. They will move to Azraq, Jordan.
Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen told Sunday's Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the refueling plane will be moved as quickly as possible after the end of June and should be back in service in the second half of July.
Von der Leyen says moving the six Tornado reconnaissance planes will take two months, from August to September. Those planes should be fully back in service from October.