Ankara confirms NATO AWACS to be stationed in Konya

Konya Havaalanı
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has confirmed that NATO's Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes will use an air base in the Central Anatolian province of Konya as part of NATO operations in Afghanistan.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Özügergin, in a statement released late Thursday, confirmed news reports by German newspapers Die Zeit and Handelsblatt as well as German television station n-TV and said that NATO had asked Turkey for the “temporary” use of Konya Air Base for its AWACS aircraft.

“We agree to the temporary use of Konya Air Base by AWACS planes both as part of the comprehensive contributions we have made to the ISAF [NATO-led International Security Assistance Force] operation and to assist with air traffic in Afghanistan,” Özügergin said.

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