Police near the Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey, used tear gas and water cannons on Sunday to prevent a pro-Hamas Islamist mob from storming the facility that houses U.S. troops.
The mob was an offshoot of a protest against America and Israel — and in favor of the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas — convened by the Turkish Islamist Group the “IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation.” IHH convened what it called a “Freedom Convoy for Palestine” on Sunday to coincide with, and protest against, a visit by American Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Turkey this weekend.
The head of the IHH, Bulent Yildirim, delivered remarks urging attendees at his event not to attack police, claiming that police officers agreed with his organization’s pro-Hamas sentiment and were limited in what they could do to attack Israel. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported that Yildirim was also tear-gassed during the mob’s attempts to attack the base.
“Friends, it is wrong to throw rocks or do similar things because both the police and soldiers would want to go to Gaza and fight and they will go when the time comes,” Reuters quoted Yildirim as saying.
Turkey is a formal U.S. ally under the auspices of NATO and houses American troops belonging to the US Air Force 39th Air Wing Command at Incirlik. While formally allied with America, the government of Islamist Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan regularly threatens the alliance with open support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and NATO-flouting agreements with key adversary Russia. Erdogan has presided over a period of rising anti-American sentiment in Turkey. Anti-Americans of both Islamist and secularist varieties often denounce the presence of American troops at Incirlik and occasionally attempt to attack the base.
Anti-Americanism has become louder in Turkey in the past month in response to the unprecedented terrorist attack against civilians in Israel by Hamas on October 7, which left over 1,200 people dead. Hamas terrorists invaded Israel from their stronghold in Gaza and went door-to-door in residential communities killing entire families. Israeli responders have documented evidence of the terrorists raping, torturing, and gruesomely murdering civilians, including the bodies of infants found decapitated and burned.
“Hamas is not a terrorist organization, it is a group of mujahideen defending their lands,” Erdogan proclaimed at a meeting of his Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) on October 25, objecting to Israeli operations to defend its territory against Hamas.
The Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet reported on Sunday that a group of men broke away from the “Freedom Convoy” once the group approached Incirlik and attempted to run into the base through the surrounding airfields. Turkish authorities responded with police on horseback, tear gas, and water cannons to subdue the mob.
Reuters estimated that the mob numbered in the hundreds of people, attempting to tear down barricades and throwing projectiles at police.
“Footage from the protests showed police firing tear gas and using water cannons to disperse crowds waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and chanting slogans. Protesters toppled barricades and clashed with police in riot gear,” Reuters narrated. “Protesters were also seen hurling plastic chairs, rocks, and other items at police, who fired smoke bombs at crowds. ”
The Turkish government’s Anadolu Agency covered the event as a mostly peaceful group to “protest Israel’s attacks on Palestinians” and downplayed the violence outside of the airbase, claiming police “stepped in” against “some protesters” who, the outlet conceded, were “throwing stones, bottles, and fireworks.”
The Pentagon’s European Command, which is in charge of the troops at Incirlik, had confirmed it was “devising appropriate safety protocols” last week in response to the IHH encouraging “hundreds of thousands of people” to attend the pro-Hamas rally.
“The safety and well-being of our airmen, families and community remain the forefront of our concerns,” European Command spokeswoman 2nd Lt. Gaby Gocso said in a statement on Thursday, noting that the military anticipates weeks of protests that require a heightened security response. “We urge all members to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities.”
Erdogan’s government has encouraged mass events in support of Hamas, which maintains a presence in Turkey with the government’s support. The president himself delivered an extensive speech during a rally on October 28 in Istanbul in which he reiterated his belief that Hamas “is not a terrorist organization” and accused Western countries supporting Israel following the October 7 terrorist attack of spreading a “Crusader War atmosphere.”
“The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West,” Erdogan asserted. Erdogan also used the occasion to accuse Israel of aiding the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Marxist terrorist organization, without evidence.
Erdogan claimed that the “Great Palestine Rally,” held in Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport, attracted 1.5 million people that weekend.
Erdogan took a moment to describe the mass killing of civilians by Hamas as “regrettable” before going on to defend the group once more as “not as terrorist organization” — and mocking Western leaders for being offended by his claim.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect a revised number on the death toll from the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. The Israeli government estimate of 1,400 was revised to around 1,200, according to Reuters.
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