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The Grand Turk
US pulling out 12 F-15s from Turkey’s Incirlik
2015-12-17
Interesting.
[Rudaw] Washington is pulling out 12 F-15 fighter jets it deployed at The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
's strategic Incirlik air base just last month, the United States European Command (EUCOM) said Wednesday.

In a brief report, it said the planes were returning to the Lakenheath air base in the United Kingdom, starting today.

Six of the jets are F-15C Eagles and the other six are F-15E Strike Eagles. The former were deployed on Nov. 6, after Turkey requested them to defend its airspace, and the latter flew in six days later.

Unlike the Strike Eagles, which are multirole strike fighters, the F-15C Eagles are built largely for aerial combat. Turkey presumably wanted the US jets to help prevent Russian or Syrian aircraft from breaching Turkish air space.
So either no one is worried about incursions of Turkish air space, or (I suspect) the Turks were preventing us from using the aircraft to attack ISIS...
The jets were deployed at Incirlik before the Turkish downing of the Russian Su-24 'Fencer' aircraft on Nov. 24.

The withdrawal of the US jets comes amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Ankara, and as the Russians are increasingly bombing anti-regime and Islamist groups in northwestern Syria and their supply lines, which go from Turkey into Syria.
Posted by:trailing wife

#3  Don't want Russia to shoot one down thinking it was Turkish.
Posted by: phil_b   2015-12-17 19:40  

#2  Erdogun being a liability it's hopefully wisdom that's decided this move.
Posted by: Elmeanter de Medici4344   2015-12-17 12:15  

#1  Somebody took heed of the "remove your assets" message.
Posted by: Skidmark   2015-12-17 01:05  

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