Could Turkey bar US military from Incirlik air base?
Faced with the resurging threat of sanctions in the US Congress, Ankara has brandished another trump card, warning that the US military could lose access to two key bases in Turkey.
In a television interview Dec. 11, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that Turkey could bar the United States from using two key bases in the country in response to possible sanctions over Ankara’s purchase of Russian missiles and its military campaign in northeast Syria. It was not the first time Ankara has made such warnings, but with the prospect of sanctions looming closer, its tone seems to be toughening.
In the interview with the pro-government A Haber channel, Cavusoglu was asked how Ankara would respond to eventual sanctions by the US Congress and whether the status of the US base in Incirlik, not far from the Syrian border, could be reviewed. The minister responded that the status of “both Incirlik and Kurecik” could be reviewed, referring also to a NATO base in the eastern province of Malatya that hosts an early-warning radar station as part of NATO’s missile defense system.
