Susan Rice’s Meet the Press claim yesterday that the Obama Administration had reached a deal with Turkey on the use of Turkish military bases has been denied by top Turkish officials, who say that no decision had been reached.
“There is no decision at the moment concerning Incirlik or any other issue,” noted Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu. The Incirlik air base, along the Syrian border, was seen as particularly valuable for attacking Syria.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s office similarly denied that any deal had been made on any base, and though it is said to be likely a deal on training Syrian rebels was made, it is clear there wasn’t one on the air bases.
Turkey is pushing hard for the creation of a “buffer zone” inside Syria to house the refugees currently in Turkey, and the establishment of a no-fly zone across northern Syria, and is likely holding off on the bases’ commitment for some movement on that.
