Akıncı Air Base
| Akıncı Air Base Akıncı Hava Üssü |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||||||||
| IATA: none – ICAO: LTAE | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Owner | Turkish Air Force | ||||||||||
| Operator | 1st TuAF Command, 4th Wing | ||||||||||
| Location | Ankara, Turkey | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 2,767 ft / 843 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°04′44″N 032°33′56″E / 40.07889°N 32.56556°ECoordinates: 40°04′44″N 032°33′56″E / 40.07889°N 32.56556°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
 Akıncı AB
4th Air Wing |
|||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Akıncı Air Base (ICAO: LTAE) (Turkish: Akıncı Hava Üssü, formerly Mürted Hava Üssü) is an airbase of the Turkish Air Force located northwest of Ankara, Turkey.
Akıncı is the 4th Air Wing (Ana Jet Üssü or AJÜ) of the 1st Air Force Command (Hava Kuvvet Komutanligi) of the Turkish Air Force (Türk Hava Kuvvetleri). Other wings of this command are located in Eskişehir (LTBI), Konya (LTAN), Bandırma (LTBG) and Balıkesir (LTBF).[2]
Akıncı Air Base hosts the F-16C/D jet fighters of the 141st (fighter), 142nd (bomber) and 143rd (training) squadrons.[3][4][5]
The air squadron which received the first F-16C/D jet fighters was the training squadron "Öncel". In 1999, the training squadron was re-designated as 143rd squadron, and became part of the Akıncı AFB because other jet fighters at the airbase were of the same type, which enable convenience for maintenance and training capacity.[5]
The Akıncı AFB initially hosted the munition squadron 739th MUNSS as part of the nuclear weapons custodian 39th Wing's Logistics Group stationed at Incirlik AFB. In 1996, the nuclear mission at the Akıncı AFB was deactivated. Today, six Weapons Storage and Security System (WS3) vaults are operational in stand-by status at the airbase.[6]
Contents
Coup d'état attempt[edit]
A coup d'état attempt took place in Turkey on July 15, 2016, which was staged by factions of the armed forces. Turkish Chief of the General Staff Hulusi Akar was taken hostage at the headquarters by the pro-coup soldiers, transported by helicopter to the Akıncı AFB, where he was detained. As the coup attempt collapsed, he was freed the next morning by special forces.[7][8]
It is alleged that the Akıncı AFB was the command center of the pro-coup military.[8] At 22:00 hours local time on July 15, 2016, Akın Öztürk, a four-star General in the Turkish Air Force and a member of the Supreme Military Council, who served as the 30th Commander of the Turkish Air Force between 2013 and 2015, reportedly started the coup d'état in Ankara by ordering the take-off of F-16 jet fighters of the 141st squadron. The operation was led by Air Pilot Staff Lieutenant colonel Hakan Karakuş, who is the son-in-law of Akın Öztürk. The personnel of the 141st squadron had been sent home in the afternoon with the remark that the duty terminates earlier on that day.[9] Six F-16 jet fighters, which were involved in the coup, were transferred from the 8th Air Wing at Diyarbakır Air Base the day before due to their improved precision night-attack capability at low flight and targeting pods.[10] Two tanker aircraft of type KC-135R flown by the 101st Squadron at İncirlik AFB were employed for aerial refueling so that the jet fighters could operate hours nonstop over Ankara. The jet fighters of Akıncı AFB were supported by Sikorsky S-70 and Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopters from the Ankara Güvercinlik Army Air Base. While flying low at subsonic speeds and directing air strikes towards governmental targets and civilians,[11] anti-coup jet fighters from other air bases in Turkey took off and chased the pro-coup aircraft. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in his constitutional capacity as the Commander-in-chief of the Turkish Armed Forces, ordered the shootdown of the pro-coup F-16s still in the air.[9] Anti-coup F-16 jet fighters of the 9th Air Wing from the Bandırma Air Base chased the pro-coup F-16s in the air,[12] and the F-4E/2020 Terminator jet bombers of the 1st Air Wing's 111th squadron from the Eskişehir Air Base bombed the runway thresholds of the air base to prevent the aircraft operating from Akıncı AFB to land or take off.[11] The pro-coup aircraft were forced so to land in other air bases.[13]
President Erdoğan credited the media and the people of Turkey in standing up against the coup plotters and said that the final straw that broke the back of the attempted coup was when the Turkish government dropped 12 bombs on the Akinci Air Base.[14]
Relocation and redevelopment[edit]
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said while addressing a crowd in the Kazan district of Ankara, which houses the base: "That Akıncı Air Base which nested traitors will be closed and it will be turned into a place where the memories of our martyrs will be kept alive".[15]
On August 12, 2016, Minister of National Defense Fikri Işık stated that there is a will to relocate the air base, and to redevelop its area into a "democracy park".[16]
Other airports in Ankara[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Airport information for LTAE at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
- ^ Turkish Air Force - Scramble
- ^ "F-16 Aircraft Database - Current active F-16 airframes assigned to TuAF 141 Filo". F-6 Net. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
- ^ "F-16 Aircraft Database - Current active F-16 airframes assigned to TuAF 142 Filo". F-6 Net. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
- ^ a b "143 Filo (TUAF)". F-6 Net. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
- ^ "Locations of U.S. Nuclear Weapons, by Type" (PDF). NRDC. p. 79. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
- ^ "Turkey's Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar rescued from pro-coup soldiers". Daily Sabah. 2016-07-16. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
- ^ a b "194 killed in quashed Gülenist coup attempt: Military". Hürriyet Daily News. 2016-07-15. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
- ^ a b "Akın Öztürk'ün ilk fotoğrafı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2016-07-17. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
- ^ "Tanker uçak 'vururuz' denilerek indirildi!". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ^ a b "F-16'lar kalkmasın diye Ankara Akıncı Üssü'nün pistlerinin bombalandığı iddia edildi". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2016-07-16. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ^ Özbek, Tolga (2016-07-16). "İşte darbe girişiminin perde arkası". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ^ "Ankara'daki Akıncı Üssü böyle vuruldu". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2016-07-22. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ^ "Erdoğan says he does not believe coup attempt is over, vows to take further steps". Hürriyet Daily News. 2016-08-06. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
- ^ "Turkish government to move main military bases out of Ankara, Istanbul". Hürriyet Daily News. 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
- ^ "Akıncı Air Base to become 'democracy park'". Hürriyet Daily News. 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
