Turkey has permitted Russian warplanes to deploy from its Incirlik base to launch airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced over the weekend.
The Incirlik airbase is located in southern Turkey roughly 60 miles from the Syrian border. The U.S.-led coalition fighting against ISIS has used the base to launch targeted bombings against the jihadist group since 2015.
Yildirim told reporters Saturday that Moscow could share the military facility with coalition forces "if necessary." He said Russia has not submitted an official request to use the base.
"Turkey opened Incirlik airbase to fight Daesh [Islamic State] terrorists. It is being used by the U.S. and Qatar. Other nations might also wish to use the airbase, which the Germans are also now using," Yildirim said, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Yildirim said Moscow likely would not need to use Incirlik because Russia already deploys warplanes from two bases in Syria.
The announcement comes about two weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow on Aug. 9. The meeting was an effort to repair ties between the two historical rivals, especially after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet that entered its airspace in November, triggering sanctions from Moscow.
Some observers have said that the meeting signaled a new rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara. Turkey, a NATO ally, has expressed frustration with the U.S. following a failed July 15 military coup to depose Erdogan.
The U.S. currently keeps 50 of its tactical nuclear weapons at Incirlik airbase, according to a new report from the Stimson Center.
Iran’s foreign ministry announced Monday that Russia had halted operations from an Iranian airbase to launch strikes in Syria. Both countries are fighting to support Syrian President Bashar al Assad, who Turkey has wanted to depose since Syria’s civil war began in 2011.
The development comes less than a week after Moscow’s defense ministry confirmed that long-range Russian Tu-22M3 and Su-34 fighter bombers had taken off from Iran’s Hamadan airbase to target ISIS and Jabhat al Nusra, an al Qaeda-linked jihadist group in Syria.
It was the first time Russia has used the territory of another country in the Middle East for its operations in Syria since launching an air campaign in support of Assad last fall. It was also the first time since World War II that Iran allowed a foreign nation to launch military operations from its territory.
Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan condemned Russia for publicizing the collaboration, calling the move a "betrayal of trust." He said the "operational cooperation was temporary."
The Turkish government, meanwhile, vowed to play a "more active" role in international efforts working to end the Syrian civil war. While Yildirim said Assad could remain in power during a transitional period in the war-torn country, he emphasized that the dictator could not be a part of Syria’s future.