Six F-16 and 300 airmen of the 31 ° Fighter Wing, based in Aviano, landed a few minutes ago at the Incirlik air base in Turkey. The fighters will be used by the United States to bomb the objectives of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
The flights to transfer the contingent to Turkey started this morning from the Italian base. The F-16 will participate in the "Inherent Resolve" operation, the US-led air campaign against the Islamic State.
The American base of Incirlik, is one of the smallest American installations in Europe, although for years it has supported all US-led campaigns in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
Turkey, a member of NATO and a historic ally of the United States, has rarely allowed the Americans to use the Incirlik base for the projection of air forces in attack missions. The last authorization dates back to the Operation Northern Watch, which began in the 1997 and ended with the American invasion of Iraq. The Islamic State, however, has determined a serious revaluation of the present strategic asset present in the Region, pushing the Turks to authorize (it would be more correct to request) the redeployment of US fighters.
It is not known how long the contingent from Aviano will remain in Turkey and when the sorties will begin. It is not excluded that in the next few hours, other fighters from US bases in Europe could reach Incirlik.
