In a statement made on mainstream TV, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he would consider closing Washington’s key foothold in his country, US and NATO’s Incirlik Air Base – should the US continue to impose economic sanctions on Turkey.
Erdogan stressed that Turkey reserves the right to ‘shut down’ Incirlik Base, as well as the Kurecik Radar Station, if the Trump administration makes good on its threats to levy additional sanctions on Turkey.
“We will close down Incirlik if necessary,” said Erdogan to A Haber TV.
“If they are threatening us with the implementation of these sanctions, of course we will be retaliating.”
Kurecik base located in the Malatya province, houses an early-warning radar station which is said to be a key piece in NATO’s extended ballistic missile defense network.
Incirlik Base is also one of six storage Cold War era sites housing US nuclear warheads for is European defense array, including some 90 nuclear warheads stationed in an area surrounded by terrorists militants being used by the US, Turkey and their allies to try and overthrow the government in Damascus.
The loss of these facilities would be a major blow to NATO, and would likely lead to Turkey leaving the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance after joining in 1951.
The current war of words appears to have been triggered following Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria against Kurdish SDF and YPG militias said to be threatening Ankara but who have received protection from the US who summarily imposed fresh sanctions against Turkey before quickly rolling them back.
However, the real reason for sanctions is over Turkey’s purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system, clearly falling foul of NATO’s military industrial cartel and international protection racket. The move by Erdogan has alarmed the Pentagon and Brussels who are already worried about the Turkish forging ever closer relations with Vladimir Putin and Russia – potentially eliminating Washington’s primary launching pad to wage proxy wars in the region, and to continue its policy of destablizing Turkey’s neighboring Syria.
Last week, the US Senate approved a new bill would would enable more sanctions on Turkey over its recent purchase of Russian S-400s SAM systems.
READ MORE TURKEY NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Turkey Files
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