US Military Families Ordered to Evacuate Turkey
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/03/29/us-military-families-ordered-to-evacuate-turkey.htmlMilitary.com Mar 29, 2016 | by Amy Bushatz
U.S. military families have been ordered to evacuate bases in Turkey to keep to them safe from possible attacks, officials announced Tuesday.
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said the order to leave Turkey would affect about 670 of the total of 770 dependents in the country.
The 670 dependents are at the main Incirlik airbase and two other smaller bases at Izmir and Mugla, Cook said. The approximately 100 dependents who are being allowed to stay were with spouses assigned to Ankara, the Turkish capital, and Istanbul, which were considered safer postings, Cook said.
Cook did not give a timeline for when the dependents would leave but said "my understanding is that this will move very quickly."
The departures were not a response to the Brussels terror attacks last week in which an Air Force officer and four members of his family were wounded in the explosion at the Zaventem international airport, Cook said. "I don't believe this was specifically triggered by the Brussels attacks," Cook said.
"It's not because of any one action or specific threat," Cook said, but was instead a step taken "out of an abundance of caution."
The evacuation "is intended to mitigate the risk to DoD elements and personnel, including family members, while ensuring the combat effectiveness of U.S. forces and our mission support to operations in Turkey," U.S. European Command posted in a message on its Facebook page.
The evacuation order applies to all Defense Department dependents in the Adena area, including Incirlik Air Base, Ismir and Mugla.
"The decision to move our families and civilians was made in consultation with the Government of Turkey, our State Department, and our Secretary of Defense," Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, head of the command, said in the statement.
"We understand this is disruptive to our military families, but we must keep them safe and ensure the combat effectiveness of our forces to support our strong ally Turkey in the fight against terrorism," he added.
Families at Incirlik Air Base had been previously offered voluntary relocation back to the States, though most had not accepted it. Turkey has also been subject to a travel ban for service members not on official business and civilians on Pentagon accompanied orders since last year.
A military family member at Incirlik who asked that her name not be used told Military.com she has yet to receive any official information about the evacuation. She said she does not want to leave and has felt safe at the base. Her husband will continue to be stationed at the base without them for the remainder of his tour, she said.
"I'm heartbroken," she said. "We're looking at basically a 15-month deployment now."
