Action line - 81015 Published Dec. 10, 2008 By Anonymous 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- Complaint: I have a concern about the base policy and Turkish law that allows only the registered owner of a vehicle the right to drive that vehicle ... regardless of the circumstances. I'm told this is a Turkish law; however, any Turkish National I have talked to said this is only a law on-base. Off-base, any licensed driver can operate any vehicle as long as it is registered and insured. Like many Airmen at Incirlik, I will be deploying during my tour. I am the sole registered user for my POV. Between stateside pre-deployment training and the actual TDY, I will be gone roughly 7 months. With the current policy in place, my vehicle will sit unprotected and unmoved that entire time. I hate to say it, but it can pretty well be guaranteed that some form of cosmetic damage or mechanical failure will occur during that extended period of time. A simple power of attorney restricting the vehicle to base and limiting its movement for care/maintenance only would easily solve this problem and help prevent the base from having to pay out any claims that are substantiated. Would it be possible for this to be brought up and revised? Or possibly creating a service that would allow for the care of our vehicles? Or at a minimum, providing a covered/sheltered parking area? Response: Thanks for your question about vehicle use/registration requirements. There are certain limitations on our driving privileges because, as members of US Forces, we are allowed to import our personally owned vehicles into Turkey without having to pay import taxes. The Turks consider our vehicles "temporary imported POVs" and some restrictions, like no unrelated drivers, apply. This is an international agreement and changes would require levels way above us to engage and would likely be unsuccessful. The driving prohibitions are enforced on and off base, and there is no provision for a power of attorney to allow someone else to drive the car, even for basic care/maintenance of the vehicle in the driver's absence. However, I've asked the 39th FSS explore the feasibility of providing car care service and/or a storage facility. As you can imagine, this will take time and money so it won't happen overnight, but we will consider options. So, what can be done in your case? There are two options: Turkish customs will take care of the member's vehicle for a $5/day (see TMO for details). Or, a member may allow someone to crank their vehicle, let it run without driving it, and keep an eye on it. Just FYI, I've had a car idle back in the States for many years without anybody even starting it regularly. After a couple years I stopped in to see it and it fired up like I had just parked it! While not optimum, most vehicles can handle being idle for a while. Thanks for raising this issue.