Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany May 18, 2017 Thursday Germany asks US to intervene in Turkish airbase row Washington DPA POLITICS US diplomacy Germany Turkey Germany asks US to intervene in Turkish airbase row Washington German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel turned Wednesday to the United States for help in resolving a spat with Ankara over access to a Turkish air base. During a meeting in Washington, Gabriel asked US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to use his influence after Turkey denied German lawmakers access to the Incirlik base, which is hosting 268 German troops who are part of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group. The decision to block the delegation, which had been scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, was taken in part as a response to Germany's decision to grant political asylum to Turkish soldiers in the wake of last year's failed coup. "I believe that the Americans will also use the opportunities they have to talk to the Turkish side to say that we must have a different relationship with each other than the current one," Gabriel said. A delegation of German lawmakers including members of a parliamentary defence committee were last year denied access to Incirlik, but were later allowed to visit. The dispute first arose after the German parliament voted to designate the mass killing of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans a genocide. Turkey is the Ottoman Empire's successor state and disputes the designation. The German government is now considering withdrawing its troops from Incirlik, with Jordan a likely alternative. Gabriel's discussions in Washington also focused on the conflict in Ukraine and the Syrian war. According to Gabriel, there was no discussion of reports that US President Donald Trump may have passed on sensitive information from Israeli intelligence sources to Russia. The German foreign minister emphasized that this would not have any effect on the cooperation between the US and the German intelligence services. Their close cooperation was "absolutely necessary" for security in Germany and Europe, he said.