Thousands of Turkish protesters filled the streets outside the U.S. military base at Incirlik, Turkey, on Thursday, burning American flags and demanding that the government close the base.
The U.S. military maintains an arsenal of nuclear weapons at Incirlik and it is an operational hub for the air campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
The base at Incirlik, home to nearly 3,000 U.S. troops, was placed on high alert — Force Protection Condition Delta — last week after a faction of Turkish military officers tried to overthrow the government.
The electrical power for the base was cut during the coup attempt and for several days the troops relied on a backup generator. The power was restored this week.
Pentagon spokeswoman Henrietta Levin said that military officials at Incirlik were aware of the planned demonstration outside the base.
"It did not impact operations at Incirlik," Levin told Military Times on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, Gen. Joseph Votel, the U.S. military commander for the Middle East, told the Aspen Security Forum that he's worried the unrest failed coup could affect U.S. relations with the Turkish military, noting that some of its leaders have been jailed.
He says Votel said military operations out of the air base at Incirlik are back to normal. The U.S.-led coalition uses Incirlik to launch airstrikes, surveillance aircraft and other missions into Syria and Iraq.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has imposed a three-month state of emergency in the country. More than 13,000 people in the military, judiciary and other institutions have been detained since the July 15 coup attempt.
Military dependents were evacuated from Incirlik earlier this year due to mounting security concerns.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Andrew Tilghman is the executive editor for Military Times. He is a former Military Times Pentagon reporter and served as a Middle East correspondent for the Stars and Stripes. Before covering the military, he worked as a reporter for the Houston Chronicle in Texas, the Albany Times Union in New York and The Associated Press in Milwaukee.
