“Exit NATO!” Turks Hold Anti-American Protest Outside Incirlik Base Over Armenian Genocide Decision

Shortly following Joe Biden’s controversial Armenian Genocide statement on Saturday where he became the first US president to shift policy in terms of Washington official recognition of the WWI-era massacre of over one million Armenians in Asia Minor, the US Embassy in Ankara announced the closure of all American diplomatic facilities for Monday and Tuesday as a security precaution. 

As expected, anti-American protests have indeed popped up at various locations where US personnel are stationed, most notably including outside Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. US troops and intelligence operatives have long been housed at the base in southern Turkey, and it was a major hub out of which anti-Assad military missions in were launched over the past many years. A group of protesters were seen and heard at the gates of Incirlik base loudly denouncing the “lie” of Armenian genocide while telling the Americans to “go home!” and “get out of Turkey!”

İncirlik Üssü önündeyiz!

Ey bizim kanımızı içmeye çalışan tek dişi kalmış canavar. Sana bu topraklarda gün yüzü göstermeyeceğiz! pic.twitter.com/XcOwYKZE71

— TGB (@genclikbirligi) April 27, 2021

Such a spectacle outside the major NATO base in Turkey is a rare one.

According to a description of the demonstration by Military.com:

A few dozen protestors held banners and chanted slogans. “Genocide is a lie, it’s an American plan,” they said. Demonstrators also demanded an end to the American military’s use of Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, shouting: “American soldiers, get out of Turkey!”

Turks Protest Biden’s Armenian Genocide Decision, Call for US Military to Leave #Incirlik Air Base | https://t.co/v4werdK5X0 https://t.co/6Nn3Cm54p9

— Manu Gómez (@GDarkconrad) April 26, 2021

Other international reports noted that some of the demonstrators carried signs that urged Turkey to “exit NATO”…

The protest was organized by a  local wing of the Youth Union of Turkey (TGB), who call Joe Biden’s recognition of the genocide “illegal and legally void”.

The demonstrators are carrying Turkish flags and banners saying “exit NATO – the enemy of Ataturk”, “Close Incirlik for the US in response to lies about genocide”, and “No to NATO. This is our land!”

Ironically much of the American public would only be too happy to see Turkey depart NATO.

Scene’s from Monday’s protest at Incirlik Air Base:

Currently an advisory posted to the US Embassy in Turkey’s website tells Americans to avoid these ongoing protests or any areas around US government facilities in the country.

“U.S. citizens are advised to avoid the areas around U.S. government buildings, and exercise heightened caution in locations where Americans or foreigners may gather,” it says.