{"id":21503,"date":"2018-03-26T19:20:04","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T19:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/26\/zero-credibility-to-reports-us-is-leaving-bases-in-turkey-and-qatar-dod-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:37:30","slug":"zero-credibility-to-reports-us-is-leaving-bases-in-turkey-and-qatar-dod-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/03\/26\/zero-credibility-to-reports-us-is-leaving-bases-in-turkey-and-qatar-dod-says\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2032Zero credibility\u2019 to reports U.S. is leaving bases in Turkey and Qatar, DoD says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pentagon officials are denying reports that the U.S. military is planning to \u201cliquidate\u201d Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, two of U.S Central Command\u2019s main <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/global\/mideast-africa\/2018\/01\/15\/russia-and-us-engage-in-military-base-race-in-syria\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">air combat bases in the Middle East<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2018Both Incirlik and Al Udeid are considered critical to U.S. force projection into the Middle East, and have been important launching pads in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The claim that the U.S. is abandoning those bases, attributed to anonymous sources, appears in a March 22 article by DEBKAfile, an Israeli website that reports on military intelligence and security news, and was picked up by several other publications in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1199\" height=\"626\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Incirlik_A10s.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Incirlik_A10s.jpg.jpg 1199w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Incirlik_A10s.jpg.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Incirlik_A10s.jpg.jpg?resize=768,401 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Incirlik_A10s.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,535 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1199px) 100vw, 1199px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II with the 74th Fighter Squadron departs Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, Jan. 20, bound for the U.S. During their deployment, members of the 74th assisted in the support of Operation Inherent Resolve. (Senior Airman Kristan Campbell\/Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPlans to speed up the transfer of the big US CENTCOM base in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/06\/13\/emirati-ambassador-us-should-rethink-its-air-base-in-qatar\/\">Qatar <\/a>to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/22\/mattis-says-saudis-arabia-part-of-the-solution-in-yemen\/\">Saudi Arabia<\/a> were approved by President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Muhamed bin Salman when they met at the White House on Tuesday, March 20 &#8230; say DEBKAfile\u2019s military sources,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.debka.com\/the-us-liquidates-its-two-main-mid-east-air-bases-at-incirlik-and-al-udeid\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">the authors of the story wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/17\/pentagon-al-udeid-air-base-still-open-but-us-prepared-in-case-qatar-rift-escalates\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/al-udeid-air-base-qatar-kc-135-stratotanker.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pentagon: Al-Udeid Air Base still open, but US prepared in case Qatar rift escalates<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. still has full use of al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar but has considered alternatives in case the diplomatic rift between the U.S. ally and four other Arab nations further escalates, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DEBKAfile\u2019s sources also claimed that \u201cdespite repeated denials, the Trump administration is in the process of another momentous move, packing up its air force and quitting Incirlik in southern Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/u-s-pares-back-use-of-turkish-base-amid-strains-with-ankara-1520766121?mod=e2twp\">Wall Street Journal<\/a> reported March 11 that the U.S. has curbed combat flights out of Incirlik and that permanent cutbacks in combat operations could be in the works, citing U.S. military sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Informal restrictions imposed by the Turkish military on U.S. flights out of Incirlik, allegedly because of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/06\/23\/turkish-military-buildup-in-northern-syria-threatens-raqqa-operation\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">deteriorating relationship<\/a> between Washington and Ankara, contributed to a decision to scale back operations at the base, the Wall Street Journal reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But reports suggesting the U.S. plans to move those operations elsewhere were denied by Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White over Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is zero credibility to news reports asserting the U.S. is leaving Incirlik and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/01\/31\/seeking-closer-ties-qatar-to-expand-base-used-by-us-troops\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Al Udeid AB<\/a> in Turkey and Qatar,\u201d White wrote. \u201cThese reports are unhelpful and feed mistrust and division among regional partners at a time when we need to work together to address shared security concerns.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CENTCOM\/status\/977937372141715456\" title=\"\" class=\"\" style=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Central Command also tweeted<\/a> that the reports are \u201cfalse and without merit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. presence at<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/12\/us-considering-permanent-cutbacks-at-incirlik-air-base-in-turkey\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\"> Incirlik Air Base<\/a> has been seen as an important bargaining chip for both sides in ongoing tensions between Turkey and the United States over U.S. support to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/25\/turkey-sets-sights-on-syrian-region-where-us-forces-operate\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Kurdish People\u2019s Protection Units<\/a> (YPG) in northern Syria. Turkey considers the YPG a terror group.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2018\/03\/09\/us-airstrikes-drop-by-half-after-kurds-depart-anti-isis-fight\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tabqa-sdf-ypg.jpg_6b145f.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US airstrikes in Syria drop by half as Kurds depart anti-ISIS fight<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">As Kurdish fighters have departed the frontlines in the battle against the Islamic State, American airstrikes in eastern Syria have decreased sharply.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Qatar\u2019s defense minister, Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, told the Global POLITICO in early February that he hopes the base will expand, not shrink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have 11,000 of your brave men and women who are working in Qatar at the Al Udeid Air Base, and we want to make their stay comfortable,\u201d al-Attiyah said. \u201cSo we have discussed together how to transfer this air base from being temporary to become a permanent air base by building more houses, schools, and all the necessary needs to make it comfortable to our American colleagues who live there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/10\/29\/qatars-emir-warns-against-military-action-in-gulf-dispute\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"203\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP17302306279205.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Qatar&#8217;s emir warns against military action in Gulf dispute<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Qatar\u2019s emir has warned against any military confrontation over the ongoing diplomatic dispute between his country and four other Arab nations, saying it would only plunge the region into chaos.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DEBKAfile\u2019s claim that Trump and Salman discussed transferring Al Udeid\u2019s assets \u201cto the Prince Sultan air base in central Saudi Arabia\u201d comes at a time when Qatar and Saudi Arabia are embroiled in a diplomatic dispute of their own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There is zero credibility to news reports asserting the U.S. is leaving Incirlik and Al Udeid AB in Turkey and Qatar. These reports are unhelpful and feed mistrust and division among regional partners at a time when we need to work together to address shared security concerns.<\/p>&mdash; Archive: Jonathan Hoffman (@ChiefPentSpox45) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ChiefPentSpox45\/status\/977999544469336066?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 25, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pentagon officials are denying reports that the U.S. military is planning to \u201cliquidate\u201d Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":43389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["news","flashpoints","your-military"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"5":{"categories":["news","flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","your-army"],"primary_category":"your-army"},"6":{"categories":["news","flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","your-marine-corps"],"primary_category":"your-marine-corps"},"7":{"categories":["news","flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","your-navy"],"primary_category":"your-navy"}}},"categories":[101,13,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3277],"class_list":["post-21503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"N7WNIO7R3FFDXLJJEDHEAYK4T4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2018\/03\/26\/zero-credibility-to-reports-us-is-leaving-bases-in-turkey-and-qatar-dod-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2032Zero credibility\u2019 to reports U.S. is leaving bases in Turkey and Qatar, DoD says - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pentagon officials are denying reports that the U.S. military is planning to \u201cliquidate\u201d Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2032Zero credibility\u2019 to reports U.S. is leaving bases in Turkey and Qatar, DoD says\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pentagon officials are denying reports that the U.S. military is planning to \u201cliquidate\u201d Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/03\/26\/zero-credibility-to-reports-us-is-leaving-bases-in-turkey-and-qatar-dod-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Air Force TImes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-26T19:20:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T20:37:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kyle Rempfer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kyle Rempfer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": 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