News on Turkey

U.S. Leaving Jet Fuel Port Site near Incirlik Air Base, Turkey

Yumurtalik Sea Terminal used to offload jet fuel from ships

07 July 2006

Washington -- The U.S. military plans to cease operations at the Yumurtalik Sea Terminal, an aviation fuel-handling site on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast near Incirlik Air Base and the endpoint of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.

“Due to U.S. European Command force-structure realignment and transformation, the Yumurtalik Sea Terminal’s jet-fuel receipt point facility has been identified as excess to U.S. Air Forces Europe’s needs,” the Defense Department announced July 5. The facilities will be returned to the host nation.

Yumurtalik is a port on Iskenderun Bay that has been the terminus of an oil pipeline from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk and is the terminus of the new BTC pipeline bringing oil from the Caspian Sea. For decades, the Yumurtalik Sea Terminal has been the site where the U.S. Air Force has offloaded jet fuel from ships for use at nearby Incirlik Air Base.

In 2004, the Yumurtalik Sea Terminal facility was valued at $34.4 million and consists of five buildings on 57 hectares of land, according to the Department of Defense Base Structure Report. The site provides employment for one active-duty American service member and two host-nation employees.