Ankara: Hundreds of anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian protesters, who tried to storm the US Airbase in Adana City of Türkiye Sunday November 05, 2023, were tear-gassed and dispersed by the local Police.
The protesters as part of the “Freedom Convoy for Palestine” - who arrived in the city from Istanbul in a convoy of cars and buses, tried to breach the security of the Incirlik Air Base when they were stopped by the security forces.
Incirlik Air Base in Adana is home of the USAF 39th Air Base Wing that houses 1,800 US troops. The base has been used by the United States, Türkiye, Britain's Royal Air Force and other NATO allies for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.
The “Freedom Convoy for Palestine” was organized by the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), a Turkish NGO that called on its supporters to “surround” the base upon arrival.
Some protesters chanted pro-Hamas slogans, Türkiye’s Daily Ummah news site reported. Tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons were used to drive the crowd away from the American base, according to the outlet.
BREAKING: Police fire tear gas, water cannon to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters near air base housing US troops near Adana, Turkey pic.twitter.com/75LBds7Pcr— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 5, 2023
BREAKING: Police fire tear gas, water cannon to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters near air base housing US troops near Adana, Turkey pic.twitter.com/75LBds7Pcr
An AFP photographer said the police intervened when the crowd began to walk toward the base after holding a peaceful rally in Incirlik.
Images on social media showed several hundred people waving Palestinian flags running across a field chased by the police, who also used water cannon.
The protest at Incirlik Airbase coincided with a visit to Ankara by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken late Sunday.
Blinken is scheduled to meet Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday November 06, 2023.
The Incirlik Airbase protest came a day after Türkiye recalled its Ambassador to Israel in protest against massacre of Palestinians in Gaza Stripe even as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he has cut all communications with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Netanyahu is no longer someone we can talk to. We have written him off,” Erdogan said.
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