US Ambassador Cable Proves Torture at Turkish Military Base

The government of Turkey allowed the US American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to use the Incirlik Base (eastern Mediterranean coast) for illegal interrogations since 2002.

This was now confirmed by US American diplomatic cables published on WikiLeaks despite the fact that the Turkish Department of Foreign Affairs had previously denied it.

As reported by the German newspaper Die Welt, the CIA used the Incirlik Base for 24 flights between 2002 and 2006. The referring document was issued by Ross Wilson, then US American Ambassador to Ankara.

The USA apparently brought alleged "terror suspects" from different parts of the world to the base and interrogated them under torture. The application that was developed after 9/11 was being criticized by international rights organizations.

In their 2006 report, Amnesty International announced that the CIA was using 14 European countries, among them also Turkey. At the same time, Dick Marty, Rapporteur for the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, published a report that defined the Incirlik base as a point of preparation for torture.

Tan was contradicted

Namık Tan, spokesman of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had commented the report in his weekly press conference and advised the journalists "not to rely" on it.

"As everybody knows -the government of the Republic of Turkey, the people or the state did not play any role at all in this process at any time. And they will not do so in the future. It is mentioned in the reports of Amnesty International and other institutions or people - not at least in the report of Dick Marty as the Rapporteur of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on Legal Affairs and Human Rights - but I advise you not to rely on it", Tan had declared.

Tan had also announced that it was impossible for the USA to use the Incirlik Base without the permission of Turkey.

Incirlik base "prepared for torture"

The Incirlik Base is located 10 kilometres east of Adana, a city in southern Turkey. It was opened in 1954 for the joined use by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the US American Air Force. It currently accommodates 4,000 members of staff and provided support to the US for operations in the region. It was also used in the course of operations during the Iraqi invasion into Kuwait in 1991.

The use of the base by the USA is annually renewed by a classified decree. The base also holds nuclear warheads and is part of the US American missile shield project.

In 2008, Michael Hayden, Head of the CIA, admitted that suspects had been tortured in Incirlik after 9/11. After Barack Obama won the presidential elections, an investigation was launched into the applications of the CIA. (EÜ/EÖ/VK)