US soldiers at İncirlik base step into city after 12 years

ADANA

The U.S. personnel working at İncirlik Air Base in the southern province of Adana are now allowed to leave the base with permission given after the 12-year ban, which revived the economy in the region.

The United States Air Force (USAF) and the Turkish Air Force are the primary users of the air base, although it is at times also used by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Saudi Air Force.

The İncirlik neighborhood in Sarıçam district experienced its best period with the economy created by more than 20,000 soldiers during the Gulf War and the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Though the economy slowed down a bit with the reduction in the number of soldiers in 2002, the mobility came to an end in 2011 with the prohibition of soldiers to go out “due to the danger of ISIL.”

The base had a USAF complement of about 5,000 airmen, with several hundred airmen from the Royal Air Force and Turkish Air Force also present, as of late 2002. The primary unit stationed at the base is the 39th Air Base Wing of the U.S. Air Force.

Tradesmen operating in many sectors, such as food and beverage, entertainment, textile, jewelry, souvenirs, carpet making, sports and tattooing, which the U.S. soldiers showed great interest in, had to close their workplaces.

After the soldiers were allowed to leave the base again on Jan. 21 after a 12-year hiatus, shopkeepers started to open the shutters of their workplaces. The municipal teams are also working on landscaping and asphalt work on the roads.

“Things were very good in the past, people were earning a lot of foreign currency here. At the moment, we cannot make serious preparations as it is not clear whether it will be closed again,” said Muzaffer Güven, a tradesman in the region.

“There is a small revival for a while. We’ve been seeing some soldiers for the past two days, but we believe it will be more crowded next month,” said confectioner Mehmet Yılmaz, noting that the tradesmen have made online sales for 12 years.

The decision to build the Incirlik Air Base was made during the Second Cairo Conference in December 1943, but construction only began after the end of World War II. The Turkish General Staff and the U.S. Air Force signed a joint-use agreement for the new Air Base in December 1954.