Batman Air Base is located in the town of
Batman,
Turkey, which is in southeast
Anatolia, about 45 minutes away from the city of
Diyarbakir. It is one of the closest
NATO bases to the northern border of
Iraq, and during the first
Gulf War, a
special ops/
SAR Joint Task Force operated from Batman. Batman was later used as a base for
Operation Provide Comfort.
Before the days of Saddam Hussein, the base at Batman was used to support local oil operations. The town's first refinery was built in 1955, and was later connected to Iskenderun via pipeline.
Batman's use in a coming war with Iraq will probably be limited, owing to Turkey's stance toward the local Kurds. At least it has a funny name.