Turkey might not have actively participated in the war in Iraq but it has lent support to the US by providing access to Incirlik Air Base near the Syrian border in its southern part. Despite of that, the friendly relationship between the US and Turkey reached its nadir last week in the wake of the US House of Representatives declaring the killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the First World War in the Ottoman Turkish regime as an act of genocide.
Turkey has admitted that several thousands of Armenians were killed during the First Great War of the 20th century but has always denied that it was a genocide.
Few days ago, Turkey criticized the US and Iraqi military forces for failing to combat the surge of insurgency in Iraq and also threatened to intrude into northern Iraq in pursuit of Turkish Kurds who launched an attack on a Turkish base camp.
The US authorities’ apprehensions that Turkey might gradually shift its support from the US can hardly be taken lightly. The Incirlik Air Base that Turkey has so generously let the US use for all its air raids on the insurgents in Iraq is likely to be removed from US access as an act of retaliation for spitting on Turkish image. The Pentagon is already preparing for new air bases.
The Incirlik Air Base is rated as the most important one for cargo shipments to Iraq and should Turkey deny the US access to this base could easily trigger off another headache in the Bush administration’s mind. US is fast losing the war in Iraq and the loss of its most vital air base could augment to its failure.
Image Source: Thewe
Source: CNN
