In addition, he threatened to close the Kürecik base, also in southeastern Turkey, where the US military maintains a radar station

The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, warned this Sunday that “if necessary” could close the US airbase of Incirlik, due to recent tensions with Washington after the recognition this week of the Armenian genocide by the US Senate.

“If we have to make such a decision, in due course, we have the authority to do so. When appropriate, we will sit down and if it is necessary to close Incirlik, we will close it,” the Turkish president said in a joint interview with the ATV and A Haber televisions. In addition, he threatened to close the Kürecik base also in southeastern Turkey, where the US military maintains a radar station. “We will make the necessary decision within the framework of reciprocity. Turkey is not a tribal republic,” Erdogan said.

Incirlik, in Adana province, is a large airbase that has played an important role for US operations in Syria. According to the Turkish president, “it is very important for both sides that the US does not take irreparable steps in relations.”

“We regret that polarization in US internal policies has negative consequences for us and that some groups abuse what is happening in our country for their own interest in weakening Trump,” Erdogan added in relation to the president of the United States. The motion that recognizes the Armenian genocide was passed last Thursday in the US Senate unanimously, while the House of Representatives adopted a similar resolution last October by 405 votes in favor and 11 against.

Ankara acknowledges that the Ottoman Empire committed massacres against the Armenian population in 1915 but strongly denies that they could qualify as “genocide”, further arguing that this legal term still It did not exist at the time.