German Minister Hails Berlin's Help in Fight against IS

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday visited a contingent of German troops stationed at a Turkish air base as part of the coalition to defeat Islamic State (IS), hailing their contribution in the fight against the jihadists in Syria.

Six German Tornado reconnaissance planes have been carrying out flights since January 8 from the Incirlik base in southern Turkey, as well as an Airbus refueling plane.

Von der Leyen told reporters at the base that the Tornados had already carried out over 30 flights, while the tanker plane had flown 40 times to supply German but also French, British and Italian planes.

"It's very good that the contingent has set itself up so quickly," said Van der Leyen.

"The reconnaissance results that the Tornados deliver are of an extraordinarily high quality," she said.

"We are thus making our contribution to thwarting the expansion of IS."

The minister said she had felt in Turkey how much the country had been hurt by the suicide attack in Istanbul on January 12 blamed on IS jihadists.

"In Turkey there is a strongly growing conviction that we must fight the enemy together," she said.

Her Turkish counterpart Ismet Yilmaz said the Istanbul attack "once again made clear how important the international coalition is in the fight against terror."

German lawmakers in December authorized the deployment of up to 1,200 German personnel and the aircraft to join international military operations against the IS group.

On the ground in Incirlik, the German forces have joined planes from countries including Britain, France and the United States. However the German planes are not carrying out lethal raids on Syria.

Post-war Germany has been traditionally reluctant to send troops into military missions abroad. But momentum for the deployment grew after the November 13 Paris attacks.

Turkey was long criticized over its alleged reluctance to fully take on IS but Ankara's permission last year to allow foreign forces to conduct raids against IS from Incirlik was seen as a major breakthrough.