A technician works on a German Tornado jet at the air base in Incirlik, Turkey, last year. Photo: TOBIAS SCHWARZ / POOL / AFPGermany on Friday said Turkey once again blocked a visit by its lawmakers to German troops stationed at a Turkish base, a move adding to tension in their relations. Some 20-30 German troops have remained at Konya as part of an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACs) mission, part of the coalition's campaign against IS in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. The German foreign ministry insisted that all sides, including Nato, remained in talks on setting a new date for a visit. Lawmaker Wolfgang Hellmich, head of the parliamentary defence committee, said Turkey's latest move amounted to another denial of the right to visit German troops, and that Ankara had referred to the "strained bilateral relations".

Source: The Local July 15, 2017 01:30 UTC