Turkey could shut down NATO Incirlik Air Base, Erdogan says

It would be a retaliatory move against potential sanctions by the US

Ankara retains the option of shutting down the Incirlik Air Base used by US/NATO forces, in retaliation to any additional sanctions against Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
As well the air base, which is located in Adana, the Kurecik Radar Station in the Malatya province may also be closed, Erdogan said. The Kurecik base houses an early-warning radar installed by the US Army, which plays a strategic role in NATO’s ballistic missile defense network.

“We will close down Incirlik if necessary,” Erdogan told A Haber TV.

Erdogan made the threat, which had earlier been suggested by FM Mevlut Cavusoglu, while talking to the A Haber channel about the Armenian Genocide resolution passed by the US Senate. It formally recognizes as genocide the mass murder of some 1.5 million Armenians in the early 20th century by the Ottoman Empire.

While the resolution was actually opposed by US President Donald Trump because it came amid a notable low-point in American-Turkish relations, Trump himself has not shied away from threatening Ankara with sanctions – even with the use of force.

source rt.com