The Obama administration announced Thursday that it will allow up to 900 military and diplomatic officials in Turkey to leave Incirlik Airbase and the U.S. consulate in Adana, Turkey.
“This decision was made out of an abundance of caution, following the commencement of military operations out of Incirlik Airbase,” the Departments of Defense and State said.
Turkey agreed to allow the U.S. to begin flying airstrikes against the Islamic State from Incirlik in late July, cutting down on the time and distance planes need to fly to a target. Turkey also recently reached an agreement to join the coalition fighting the terrorist group and began its own strikes on Saturday. Press reports from Thursday said there are increased fears of possible threats to U.S. officials in that region of the country.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the decision to help U.S. families leave that area of Turkey was made “out of an abundance of caution.”
“Obviously things have changed somewhat at Incirlik in terms of our operations out of Incirlik,” Cook said during a briefing at the Pentagon. “This is an active air base that’s carrying out operations and we’re just being abundantly safe here.”
He did not have any information on if any of the people had already taken advantage of the opportunity to evacuate. People will be allowed to fly home commercially and be reimbursed for the expense by the government.
Cook said the 900 or so people affected by the policy will have the option to leave their current station, at government expense.
“The safety and security of U.S. citizens living abroad are top priorities, and we take very seriously the responsibility for ensuring the security of members of the entire official American community,” the Obama administration said. “We will continue to evaluate our security posture in Turkey and worldwide.”
The military has offered families voluntarily evacuations in the past, such as in 2011 when it allowed dependents in Japan to leave the country following damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
