A spate of ISIL terrorist attacks against Turkey is the reason President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to allow US warplanes access to Turkish air bases First, the good news. After months of dithering, the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has given his approval for America to use the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey to mount air strikes against Islamic State (Isil) positions across the border in Syria.