Article

2019-07-24 The Grand Turk

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 00:50|| || Front Page|| [11131 views ] Top

#1 Well at least we know what the S-400 missile purchase was all about.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-07-24 01:28|| 2019-07-24 01:28|| Front Page Top

#2 Fine. They don't let us use it when it counts anyway.

Posted by gorb 2019-07-24 01:36|| 2019-07-24 01:36|| Front Page Top

#3 I don't want to sanction them over obama's refusal of the Patriot.

Posted by newc 2019-07-24 02:21|| 2019-07-24 02:21|| Front Page Top

#4 Turkey has been the home of the international Muslim Brotherhood at least since 2013. However, the government which has been increasingly Islamicized is now threatened by the people who have voted out the Islamists in Ankara and Istambul. The US forces should not wait to be thrown out of Turkey but should instead be moved to the base north of Irbil and to Greece. Turkey, which now has no chance of joining the EU, has recently threatened Cyprus, and it should be put on notice that any action taken will be met by severe reprisals.

Posted by Chereting Pelosi1889 2019-07-24 09:22|| 2019-07-24 09:22|| Front Page Top

#5 close the base, who cares

Posted by chris 2019-07-24 10:35|| 2019-07-24 10:35|| Front Page Top

#6 Cat got Erogan's tongue or has he become Schrodinger's Sultan?

Posted by Angaiting Thising6508 2019-07-24 10:37|| 2019-07-24 10:37|| Front Page Top

#7 Close the base and move it into Kurdish lands.

That will really piss off the Turks.

Posted by DarthVader 2019-07-24 11:03|| 2019-07-24 11:03|| Front Page Top

#8 Darth for the win.

On to Irbil.

Posted by Lex 2019-07-24 13:29|| 2019-07-24 13:29|| Front Page Top

#9 Talk the Brits into sharing RAF Akrotiri, Crete and/or RAF Kingsfield, Crete and move there. Get the Turks off of Crete and stop their annexing the Easter Mediterranean as an added bonus.

Posted by magpie 2019-07-24 14:46|| 2019-07-24 14:46|| Front Page Top

#10 I can't find the twitter about it but last night it came out that the USA is building a new airport in Kurdistan (Iraq or Syria not clear) right on the Turkish border.

Posted by 3dc 2019-07-24 16:32|| 2019-07-24 16:32|| Front Page Top

#11 There are no Turks on Crete, it is owned by Greece. I believe Magpie meant Cyprus, which is still partially occupied by Turks and has a large number of Turkish and British soldiers on it.

Posted by Vernal Hatrick 2019-07-24 17:14|| 2019-07-24 17:14|| Front Page Top

#12 *Oops* ~~Crete~~ should have been Cyprus...

Posted by magpie 2019-07-24 18:31|| 2019-07-24 18:31|| Front Page Top

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