Turkey today lifted a months-long ban on German lawmakers visiting a NATO airbase near Syria, easing a bitter row sparked by a Bundestag vote labelling the Ottomans' World War I-era massacre of Armenians a "genocide".
The foreign ministers of both countries confirmed German lawmakers would be allowed next month to visit their nation's troops, who are stationed at the Incirlik base as part of the multinational coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
But Turkey's top diplomat made clear Ankara had only given the green light after Chancellor Angela Merkel's government last week met its demand and publicly clarified that the Armenia resolution from June was "not legally binding".
"To give these visas, we made it obvious to Germany what the requirements were," said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
"Germany fulfilled these conditions... By explaining it was not legally binding," he said, in comments embarrassing to Merkel amid domestic criticism she is kowtowing to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
As the EU's top destination for refugees last year, Germany has relied on an EU-Turkey agreement designed to stop the massive influx of people fleeing war and poverty.
"They understand that they cannot treat Turkey as they wish," added Cavusoglu, speaking in Ankara.
In Berlin, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he welcomed as a "a step forward" the go-ahead for the October 4-6 visit by the parliament's defence committee.
The defence expert of the far-left Linke party, Alexander Neu, however, said he wasn't sure he would join the trip.
It was "a difficult decision because the government bought this travel permit by distancing itself from the Armenia resolution," he told AFP.
Germany has around 240 troops stationed at the base in southern Turkey, from where it flies Tornado surveillance missions over Syria and refuelling flights as part of the campaign against IS.
Germany hopes to invest 58 million euros (USD 65 million) in mobile barracks and other facilities in Incirlik, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.
The bitter row over the visit started when the German parliament in June joined more than 20 countries in recognising the massacre of Armenians as a genocide.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million were killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.
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