German minister in Turkey for base talk

ANKARA

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and German Defense Minister Ursula Von der Leyen shake hands before a meeting in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015. Leyen is in Ankara for a one-day visit.(AP Photo/Murat Cetinmuhurdar, Presidential Press Service, Pool)

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visited Turkey Dec. 3 to conduct talks with her counterpart, İsmet Yılmaz.

Although no official decision has been taken yet, German and Turkish officials have been working on finalizing a memorandum of understanding on the basis of Germany’s proposals, diplomatic sources told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Germany wants to send six Tornado reconnaissance jets, refueling aircraft to İncirlik Airbase in southern Turkey, a frigate to protect a French aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea, and up to 1,200 military personnel to the region for one year, in response to a French appeal after the terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.

Some 550 of the 1,200 German military personnel are set to be deployed on Turkish territory, the diplomatic sources said.

“We have to give the people in Syria a clear message that we are determined in fight against ISIL,” she said in Berlin, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, before leaving for Turkey.