accompanying U.S. military and civilian personnel in Turkey, reflecting
worsening security conditions there, two U.S. defense sources said on
June 29.
The Obama administration in March ordered the
families of U.S. military and diplomatic personnel to leave the İncirlik
Air Base, which has been used heavily in the fight against the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, and other parts of
southern Turkey.
The move affected about 670 dependents of U.S. military personnel in southern Turkey, but 100 of them in Istanbul and Ankara were allowed to stay.
Now
military officials plan to designate deployments by all U.S. military
and civilian personnel to İncirlik base in Adana and other sites in
Turkey as “unaccompanied” tours, the sources told Reuters.
The
move was under consideration before ISIL suicide bomb attacks at an
Istanbul airport that killed 42 people and wounded 239 others, the
sources said.
“The change reflects the continued deterioration
of security conditions throughout Turkey,” said one of the sources, who
was not authorized to speak publicly.
The U.S. military has
about 2,200 service members and civilian employees in Turkey, with about
1,500 of those posted to the İncirlik base.
The change would
not apply to U.S. personnel who are part of a “chief of mission” role or
security cooperation team, the sources said.
The 100 dependents
of U.S. personnel still in Turkey would be allowed to stay once the new
rules took effect, and they would depart through natural attrition,
said one of the sources.
