US orders military, diplomatic families out of southern Turkey

The US State Department and Pentagon ordered the families of American diplomats and military personnel Tuesday to leave posts in southern Turkey due to "increased threats from terrorist groups" in the country.

The two agencies said dependents of American staff at the US consulate in Adana, the Incirlik air base and two other locations must leave.

In a statement, the US military's European Command said the step "allows for the deliberate, safe return of family members from these areas due to continued security concerns in the region."

The orders cover the Adana consulate, US military dependents in Incirlik, Ismir and Mugla as well as family of US government civilians at Ismir and Mugla.

The State Department also restricted the travel of its officials in southern Turkey to "mission critical."

The move comes amid heightened security concerns throughout Turkey due to the ongoing fight against Islamic State militants in neighboring Syria and Iraq and was accompanied by an updated travel warning advising US citizens of an increased threat of attacks.

It also comes as Turkey's president is set to arrive in Washington to attend President Barack Obama's nuclear security summit.

Incirlik is a critical base in the fight by the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group (IS), and includes strike aircraft, drones and refueling planes.

Turkey's decision last year to allow the coalition to conduct airstrikes with aircraft based at Incirlik increased the number of US personnel at the base.

NATO's Allied Land Command is based at Ismir and there is a Turkish base at Mugla where some US military personnel go for training and other missions.

On Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry met with Turkish Foreign Mevlut Cavusoglu. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the two discussed measures to secure the Turkey-Syria border and disrupt extremist networks.

According to a US official, the decision to order families to leave stemmed from the ongoing assessment of security threats in Turkey.

Turkey in the past few days warned of possible IS attacks against minorities and foreigners in the country, such as the 19 March suicide blast in an Istanbul shopping district that killed four tourists.