ANKARA — The US military has deployed a batch of six F-15C air-to-air combat aircraft to the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey.
Turkish military officials said the deployment aims to help defend Turkey's airspace against non-NATO forces.
Last month, two Russian warplanes violated Turkish airspace, sparking Turkish and NATO condemnations.
Stuttgart, the Germany-based US-European Command, said it had directed six fighter jets from the 48th Fighter Wing, based in England, to Incirlik. The planes will join other US aerial assets deployed at Incirlik as part of a US-led allied campaign against the Islamic State group of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria.
The command said the deployment was in response to Turkey's request for support in securing its airspace and was a "demonstration of our unwavering support for Turkish sovereignty and the collective security of the region."
"We will continue to work closely with our Turkish partners on supporting the sovereignty of Turkish airspace and our shared efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL," the statement said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.
Shortly before the deployment of US F-15Cs, the US destroyer Donald Cook visited the Aksaz naval base Oct. 30-Nov. 2 the Aksaz naval base on Turkey’s southwest Mediterranean coast and proceeded to eastern Mediterranean waters for joint Turkish-US exercises.
The Turkish-US naval exercises came shortly after Russia’s military advances in Syria. The exercises included allied assets, including such as submarines and surface and air defense units, with the aim of improving joint training and interoperability.
Last month, Russia started to hit targets inside Syria, saying it was attacking jihadist terrorists. But Turkish officials say the Russian military has mainly been hitting opposition forces which NATO allies support.
Turkey has been staunchly supporting anti-government forces in Syria. It insists that Syria’s civil war would not end without the removal of Syrian President Bashar Assad from office. However, But Iran and Russia back Assad.
Burak Ege Bekdil was the Turkey correspondent for Defense News.
