Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to close US and NATO military bases in Turkey after the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday, approved a bill imposing sanctions on Ankara after its offensive in Syria and purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems.
‘If necessary, we can close Incirlik, and we can close Kurecik”, Erdogan told Turkish channel Haber TV on Sunday.
Both bases are strategically important to NATO. Incirlik airbase also hosts US nuclear warheads, and Kurecik is a NATO radar base in Turkey.
The US Senate committee said the purchase of S-400 systems by Ankara is regarded as the basis for sanctioning Turkey through the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The legislation, if approved by both chambers of Congress and signed by the President, will restrict US arms sales to Turkey and imposes restrictions on officials who were in charge of weapons supplies for Ankara's military operation in Syria.
At the same time, the head of the Pentagon, Mark Esper, expressed concern about Turkey's rapprochement with Russia.
“My biggest worry is Turkey's connection with Russia. It is disturbing that Turkey is moving out of the NATO orbit. I have spoken about this several times in public. We must answer the challenge and understand how we can bring it closer to the NATO alliance because it's been an important partner for 70 years”, Esper told US lawmakers at the House of Representatives last…
