According to Die Welt newspaper, Germany expected to start the construction activities earlier in the year. However, Turkey has not signed the documents necessary for the beginning of the process yet.
The permission has not been signed yet, as the Turkish side was involved in the "procedures necessary for the final approval," the German government said in response to a parliamentary request on the issue, as quoted by the media outlet.
German-Turkish relations deteriorated after the German parliament’s decision in June to label the 1915 massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Following this decision, Ankara restricted a delegation of German lawmakers' access to the air base. Nonetheless, in October, Turkey allowed the delegation to visit the German servicemen at the base.
The Incirlik Air Base hosts six German Tornado reconnaissance jets aircraft, as well as jets from the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Qatar participating in the US-led coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group, which is outlawed in many countries including Russia and the United States.
