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        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      US personnel in Turkey safe, Pentagon spokesman saysPublished July 19, 2016
                    
                    By Terri Moon Cronk
                    
                    
                    DoD News, Defense Media Activity
            **WASHINGTON (AFNS) --**All U.S. service members and civilians in Turkey are safe in the wake of the July 15 attempted coup there, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters July 18.
“We've taken appropriate steps to maintain the safety and security of our civilian and military personnel, their families and our facilities, and we will continue to do so,” he said of the roughly 3,000 Americans in Turkey.**Family departure previously ordered**
Cook noted a departure order that was previously issued for families, particularly in reference to those who were at Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base, where the U.S.-led coalition is a tenant and is using the base to conduct counter-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant airstrikes and other operations. Turkey is a NATO ally and is a member of the counter-ISIL coalition.
“We've had a clear assessment of what the situation is now with regard to safety and security of our people,” Cook said. “And that was our primary concern throughout this entire process.”**U.S. operations continue**
Defense Secretary Ash Carter is focused on making sure U.S. operations continue, personnel remain secure and the relationship with Turkey continues to progress, the press secretary said.
“We are confident that the measures we have in place and the support we're receiving from the Turkish government is adequate to address any security concerns we have at this time, and we'll continue to watch it very, very closely, as you would expect we would,” Cook added.
Force protection efforts also have ensured U.S. assets are safe, he said.
“We were, of course, concerned enough that we elevated our force protection,” the press secretary said. “So, this was clearly a situation of unrest in Turkey that was a cause of concern for us. We took steps to protect our people and our facilities, and I think that was the appropriate thing to do in light of the circumstances.”**Power at Incirlik AB not restored**
Cook said power has not yet been restored at Incirlik AB, but U.S. operations there continue. 
“(We’ll take) whatever steps we need ... to try to mitigate any impact that there could be on the (counter-ISIL) campaign,” Cook said, and he confirmed that the United States has backup power to conduct its operations.
“We adjust as we need to, to make sure we keep the pressure on ISIL (and) that we keep our operations going,” Cook said. “And we are very thankful the coalition is able to adjust in other ways, should there be any sort of delay or some sort of impact on our operations going forward.”Incirlik AB 



AFCENT 



SecDEF 



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