The Turkish government has refused to allow German lawmakers to visit German soldiers stationed at Turkey’s Konya military base, in a move likely to add even more tension to the already strained relations between the two countries. The German soldiers at the Konya base contribute to a NATO air surveillance mission, according to Reuters.

Germany last month decided to pull its troops from Turkey’s Incirlik base after Ankara denied a group of German lawmakers permission to visit more than 250 German troops stationed there. Turkey blocked the planned visit by German politicians to Incirlik after Berlin granted asylum to several Turkish military officers who are allegedly affiliated with Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric Turkey blames for the attempted coup that took place in July last year.

“We regret Turkey's request to delay the journey of a parliamentary delegation. We are in intensive talks with all parties, including NATO, to set a new date as soon as possible." a German foreign ministry official said on July 14, Reuters reported.

“If parliament cannot visit, the German army cannot remain in Konya," Reuters also quoted Thomas Oppermann, a senior lawmaker from SPD (the junior partner in the governing coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats), as saying. "The government must quickly find a solution,” he added.

“German lawmakers should be allowed to visit the Bundeswehr soldiers at a NATO air base in Konya,” Merkel said in an interview with ARD public broadcaster on July 16, Reuters reported. “More talks were needed to resolve the dispute,” she added.

“There could be no negotiations with Ankara about the extradition of Turkish asylum seekers and granting German lawmakers access to the air base because both issues were completely unrelated,” Merkel also said.

On a related note, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on July 15 to ask them to settle the dispute, according to Reuters.

Ankara’s refusal to allow German lawmakers to visit the military facility in Konya follows Turkey's decision to buy Russia's advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile system (the “SA-21 Growler”).

Relations between Turkey and Germany hit a low during the referendum campaign in Turkey on introducing an executive-style presidency when German local governments prevented Turkish ministers from attending pro-Erdogan rallies, citing security concerns.

Ankara accuses Berlin of harbouring some of the coup plotters and members of other terrorist organisations such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984.