İncirlik air base is Turkish, not American: Officials

ANKARA

The İncirlik air base in Türkiye's south is a Turkish facility, not an American one, defense authorities said on March 12 amid rising regional tensions following two drone incidents in the eastern Mediterranean linked to Iran.

"İncirlik is a Turkish base," Defense Ministry officials told reporters during a weekly press briefing in the capital Ankara.

They added, the 10th Main Jet Base Command, operating under the Combat Air Force Command in the central province of Eskişehir, is based in Incirlik an houses an F-16 squadron, a tanker squadron and drones.

"All facilities are owned by the Turkish Republic. The base commander is a Turkish brigadier general," the officials added. "The presence of U.S. soldiers does not make it an American base. There are also Spanish, Polish and Qatari military personnel there."

The NATO facility, located 10 kilometers outside Adana, lies about 350 kilometers southwest of Kürecik air base in the province of Malatya, which houses a U.S.-manned NATO early-warning radar system.

Both bases are a deeply sensitive issue for Türkiye, with police recently arresting three journalists for filming near İncirlik shortly after the war began, citing national security concerns.

Türkiye deployed a Patriot missile defense system at Kürecik after NATO intercepted a second ballistic missile fired into Turkish airspace on March 9. The U.S. responded by closing its consulate in Adana and urging all American citizens to leave southeastern Türkiye.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Türkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, insisting the missiles did not originate from Iran and pledging a full investigation. Erdoğan warned that any airspace violations would not be tolerated and vowed that Türkiye would take "all necessary measures."

Since the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran started, Tehran has launched strikes across the Middle East. Aside from the two interceptions over the course of five days, Türkiye appears to have been spared.

After the first ballistic missile was shot down in Turkish airspace on March 4, NATO said it had strengthened its "alliance-wide ballistic missile defense posture," but did not give any details for operational security reasons.

When asked why the S-400 system was not used against the drones, the sources said the "most suitable defense element is chosen based on threat assessments and operational needs."