Turkey's Erdogan threatens to close strategic bases to US military

https://www.dw.com/en/turkeys-erdogan-threatens-to-close-strategic-bases-to-us-military/a-51686229

Turkey's Erdogan threatens to close strategic bases to US military

Turrkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday threatened to close two strategic military bases used by the United States in Turkey if Washington imposes sanctions on Ankara for buying a Russian missile system.

"If necessary, we'll close Incirlik and also Kurecik," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told broadcaster A Haber on Sunday, referring to two military bases used by the United States. "If the threat of sanctions is implemented against us, we'll respond to them in the framework of reciprocity."

Incirlik is an air base in southern Turkey that has played a major role in US military operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and more recently against the "Islamic State" (IS) group in Syria and Iraq. The US military also stores around 50 B-61 gravity nuclear bombs at the base.

Kurecik in eastern Turkey houses a NATO radar station.

Earlier this week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also brought up the issue of closing the two bases to the US if Washington imposes sanctions.
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