Although relations between the United States and Turkey often experience ups and downs, however, as part of a senior member of NATO, Turkey has an air base jointly managed by Turkey and the US, namely Incirlik Air Base (Lanud) located in the city of Adana, southern Turkey.
And recently news broke, that after 12 years, US troops serving in Incirlik can finally leave the Air Force Base and travel into town.
Quoted from Hurriyet Daily News (25/1/2023), US personnel working at İncirlik Air Base are now allowed to leave the base with the permission granted after a 12-year travel ban. This decision received a positive response from residents, who believed it could revive the economy in the region.
The United States Air Force (USAF) and the Turkish Air Force are the main users of the air base, although it is also used occasionally by the Royal Saudi Air Force.
The Incirlik neighborhood of Sarıçam District is experiencing its best period with the economy created by more than 20,000 US troops during the Gulf War and the US occupation of Iraq.
Although the economy slowed slightly with troop reductions in 2002, mobility of US troops into urban areas ended in 2011, when US troops were barred from leaving bases due to the threat of ISIS attacks targeting US personnel.
The Incirlik base is home to 5,000 US Air Force pilots, with several hundred pilots from the Saudi and Turkish Air Forces. The primary unit stationed at the base is the US Air Force's 39th Air Base Wing.
After the ban on US troop activities outside the base, causing many sectors, such as food and drink, entertainment, textiles, jewelry, souvenirs, carpet making, sports and tattoos, which are of great interest to US soldiers, had to close their workplaces.
However, after US troops were allowed off base on January 21, after a 12-year absence, shopkeepers began opening their workplace windows. Even the municipality has done landscaping and asphalt work on the roads.
“Things were very good in the past, people get a lot of foreign currency here. At the moment, we cannot make serious preparations because it is not yet clear whether it will be closed again,” said Muzaffer Güven, a trader in the region.
“There was a small awakening for a while. We have seen several soldiers over the past two days, but we believe that next month will be even more crowded, ”said confectioner Mehmet Yılmaz, noting that the merchant has been conducting online sales for 12 years.
The decision to build Incirlik Air Base was made during the Second Cairo Conference in December 1943, but construction only started after the end of World War II.
US Army Engineers. began work on building the base in the spring of 1951. US Air Force. originally planned to use the base as an emergency staging and recovery site for medium and heavy bombers. The Turkish General Staff and the US Air Force signed a shared use agreement for the new Air Base in December 1954.
On February 21, 1955, the Air Base was officially named Adana Air Base, with the 7216th Air Base Squadron as the host unit. The Air Base changed its name to Incirlik Air Base on February 28, 1958. Currently, Incirlik Air Base is the base for a fleet of USAF tanker aircraft, one of which is the KC-135 Sratotanker.
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