INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- Question:

I have a quick question, why is it that minimum wage employees who have no direct affiliation with either the Turkish or U.S. Air Force allowed base privileges that retired combat veterans are not? I recently had some family in town and both my father and father-in-law are retired military members. My father tried to buy some groceries from the commissary and he was told that he was not allowed to purchase anything. I assumed that this was something to do with the DECA agreement.

However, just the other day my father-in-law was trying to purchase something else and he was also denied. On this occasion I was with my father-in-law and paid for the groceries myself. However, before the bagger was even done bagging our groceries I noticed two Turkish locals who worked at Burger King buying 6 very large containers of mayonnaise. As we were walking to the car I noticed that these Burger King employees (who were in uniform) were taking the jars to their work. I understand that everyone needs mayo on their chicken sandwiches; it just seems to be a rather large slap in the face to our retired members.

Proposed Response:

You were absolutely correct in assuming that agreements between the U.S. and Turkey govern who can and cannot use the commissary. According to the Status of Forces Agreement and the Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement, the only people permitted to use the commissary are those officially assigned here. Unfortunately this precludes retirees who are not officially affiliated with the base or visitors from using the commissary. It may interest you to know that the US has formally requested that Turkey allow retirees to use the Base Exchange and Commissary and we are hopeful that Turkey will concede. It may also interest you to know that while retirees in some other European countries can use the commissary; they pay a hefty Valued-Added Tax on the goods they purchase which can add nearly 20% to the cost of the goods.

With regard to the Burger King employees you saw, employees of approved supported organizations like AAFES and Services Squadron activities are permitted to purchase goods at the commissary for use in those activities. The six containers of mayonnaise obviously fit into this category. These employees are not permitted to purchase items for personal use.