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Turkey Hints at Cutting Off Access to Incirlik if US Is 'Hostile' over S-400 Purchase
[Military.com] Turkey's minister of foreign affairs spoke out against the United States' decision to remove the NATO ally from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, as well as the looming possibility the Trump administration could impose sanctions on the country."If the U.S. shows a hostile attitude to us, we will take a step against it," Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told Turkish TV station TGRT Haber on Monday. That could mean curtailing operations or expelling U.S. forces at Incirlik Air Base, or limiting coalition operations at Kürecik radar station, he said. His comments about the bases were first reported by Stars and Stripes. Incirlik has played a key role in air operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. In 2016, the base went dark for roughly a week during a failed coup attempt in the country. While Çavuşoğlu was not immediately clear on Turkey's path forward at Incirlik or Kürecik, his comments come after the Trump administration confirmed last week that Turkey will be removed from the F-35 program after it began accepting deliveries of the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system, which Moscow calls the "F-35 killer." Posted by: 3dc 2019-07-24 |
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