by WorldTribune Staff, July 31, 2016
Some 7,000 security forces, some in armored vehicles, surrounded Turkey’s Incirlik air base late on July 30 after rumors surfaced of a new coup attempt, a report said.
The entrance to the base, which is being used by the U.S.-led coalition to conduct airstrikes against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), was closed for what a Turkish minister called a “security check,” Russia Today reported.
The Turkish daily Hurriyet reported earlier that Adana police had been tipped off about a new coup attempt.
The move to surround the base comes two weeks after a failed coup. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in the wake of the coup and warned there “may be more plans” from dissidents to try and overthrow the government.
Witnesses at the scene took photos of Turkish forces armed with rifles and riding in armored TOMA vehicles.
Turkey’s minister for EU affairs downplayed the situation: “We did the general security check. There is nothing wrong,” he said.