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German parliament votes to withdraw troops from Turkey Germany's parliament has formally approved the withdrawal of Bundeswehr troops deployed at the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey. Lawmakers said they regretted Turkey's decision to block their visits to the facility. Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, on Wednesday backed the plan to move some 260 soldiers currently at Incirlik to an air base in Jordan. There were 461 votes in favor of the withdrawal, 85 against and 23 abstentions. In a statement, the parliament said it expected the redeployment to proceed swiftly. "With the move out of Incirlik, we've reached a temporary low point in our relations with Turkey," said SPD lawmaker Niels Annen. The Left party's Gregor Gysi described Turkey's decision to ban German parliamentarians from visiting the strategic base as an "affront." Read more: Turkey's Incirlik air base: What you need to know German troops and military planes have been stationed at the Turkish base near the Syrian border as part of the international fight against the "Islamic State" extremist group. The plan to move the troops had already been given the green light by Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet, but every deployment abroad requires support from a simple majority in parliament. http://www.dw.com/en/german-parliament-votes-to-withdraw-troops-from-turkey/a-39356874