Today’s Zaman – October 22, 2015 – The United States has deployed a dozen new warplanes to İncirlik airfield in southern Turkey as part of its ongoing fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in Syria.
Pentagon said a number of A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack planes are arriving in İncirlik to replace F-16 jets as part of a “regular rotation that was planned.” The AFP news agency put the number of newly arriving aircraft at 12 while Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said he does not have the exact number.
The US Air Force sought to retire the costly aircraft, popularly known as Warthog, as part of the military budget cuts introduced by the Obama administration. The warplanes were built during the Cold War and is best known for its close air support (CAS) for ground troops. The most effective anti-tank warplane will fly combat missions in Syria to help Arab and Kurdish militants fighting against ISIL.
The US deployed six F-16s and 300 troops from Italy to İncirlik in August after Ankara agreed to let the US use its airfields in anti-ISIL fight. The new slow, low-flying A-10 warplanes will replace the F-16s and enlarge the fight in Syria. 
The decision to deploy the A-10s planes comes three weeks after Russian air force started bombing Syria. The warplanes will start flying missions after Russia and the US signed an air safety memorandum.
Air Force Times quoted a Pentagon official this week as saying that A-10s previously flew combat missions over Syria after the US deployed these planes to a secret location in the Middle East.
On Wednesday, US congresswoman Martha McSally and Senator John McCain welcomed the deployment of A-10 planes to Turkey.
“The deployment of 12 A-10s to Turkey to aid combat missions in the fight against ISIS underscores the vital role that these aircraft play in conflicts around the world,” the US lawmakers said in a joint statement. ISIS is another acronym of ISIL, also known for its Arabic abbreviation as Daesh.
The lawmakers characterized the warplanes as “the best close-air support weapon in our arsenal” and said the A-10 is actively engaged in the campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria and in NATO’s effort to deter Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.
McSally and McCain used the opportunity to bash the Obama administration for attempts to “prematurely divest the Air Force of this aircraft.”