ISTANBUL, Turkey – The United States is preparing to deploy armed drones at the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey for airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS), the Hurriyet daily reported Thursday.
It said the deployment was agreed during a March 11 visit to Ankara by the commander of US Central Command, Gen. Lloyd J. Austin.
Quoting an unidentified Turkish official, the report said that “Turkish and US military officials agreed to deploy two armed drones to İncirlik Airbase, but the parties are waiting for political consent to be sealed with an agreement.”
The US has been using four unarmed Predator drones at the airbase for more than three years, but one was reportedly downed by the Syrian Air Force last week after taking off from Incirlik.
Ankara has so far resisted playing a more robust role against ISIS. It has resisted allowing US warplanes from using the air base for missions against in Iraq and Syria.
Incirlik is a key joint US-Turkish air base located outside the city of Adana, some 150 km from the Syrian border.
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