As well the air base, which is located in Adana, the Kurecik Radar Station in the Malatya province may also be closed, Erdogan said. The Kurecik base houses an early-warning radar installed by the US Army, which plays a strategic role in NATO’s ballistic missile defense network.
#Turkey President @RTErdogan says will retaliate for any US sanctions, could shut down Incirlik Air Base if deemed necessary. https://t.co/VoiUnJY9hZ— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) December 15, 2019
#BREAKING#Turkish President #Erdogan:▪️"The #US senate's decision on the so-called Armenian Genocide is null and void for #Turkey. In case of sanctions, we can take steps to close Incirlik and Kürecik. If the US continues to act like this, we have steps to take as well." pic.twitter.com/8NUc0VnA0y— EHA News (@eha_news) December 15, 2019
Erdogan made the threat, which had earlier been suggested by FM Mevlut Cavusoglu, while talking to the A Haber channel about the Armenian Genocide resolution passed by the US Senate. It formally recognizes as genocide the mass murder of some 1.5 million Armenians in the early 20th century by the Ottoman Empire.
The decision to build the Incirlik Air Base was made during the Second Cairo Conference in December 1943, but construction only began after the end of the Second World War. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began the work in the spring of 1951. The U.S. Air Force initially planned to use the base as an emergency staging and recovery site for medium and heavy bombers.
The Turkish General Staff and the U.S. Air Force signed a joint-use agreement for the then new Air Base in December 1954. On 21 February 1955, the Air Base was officially named Adana Air Base, with the 7216th Air Base Squadron as the host unit. This Air Base was renamed the "Incirlik Air Base" on 28 February 1958.
Turkey formally signed a deal 29 July 2015 with the United States over the use of Turkey's Incirlik air base in the U.S.-led NATO coalition's campaign against the Islamic State, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, Hurriyet reported. The agreement covers only the fight against the Islamic State and does not include air support for allied Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, a spokesman for the ministry said then.
As a result of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt and several Turkish Tanker Aircraft fuelling rogue Turkish F-16's, external electrical power to the base was disconnected. A Turkish no fly order was also put into effect for US military aircraft in the area. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook at the time stated that "U.S. facilities at Incirlik are operating on internal power sources." EUCOM spokesman Navy Capt. Danny Hernandez said: "All our assets in Turkey are fully under control and there was no attempt to challenge that status." and "There was no chaos at this base". The security level at base did however move to DELTA, the highest level, U.S. personnel are ordered restricted to base, and locals were denied access. By 17 July commercial electrical power remained disconnected but permission from Turkey to conduct US anti-ISIS air operations from Incirlik resumed; the Turkish base commander, General Bekir Ercan Van, was arrested by Turkish forces loyal to sitting president Erdoğan. General Van sought asylum from the United States but was denied.
Due to increasing risks, some suggest moving NATO's nuclear weapons out of Turkey. İncirlik airbase hosts approximately fifty B61 nuclear bombs.
As a result of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt and several Turkish Tanker Aircraft fuelling rogue Turkish F-16's, external electrical power to the base was disconnected. A Turkish no fly order was also put into effect for US military aircraft in the area. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook at the time stated that "U.S. facilities at Incirlik are operating on internal power sources." EUCOM spokesman Navy Capt. Danny Hernandez said: "All our assets in Turkey are fully under control and there was no attempt to challenge that status." and "There was no chaos at this base". The security level at base did however move to DELTA, the highest level, U.S. personnel are ordered restricted to base, and locals were denied access. By 17 July commercial electrical power remained disconnected but permission from Turkey to conduct US anti-ISIS air operations from Incirlik resumed; the Turkish base commander, General Bekir Ercan Van, was arrested by Turkish forces loyal to sitting president Erdoğan. General Van sought asylum from the United States but was denied.
Due to increasing risks, some suggest moving NATO's nuclear weapons out of Turkey. İncirlik airbase hosts approximately fifty B61 nuclear bombs.
At the beginning of the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, tensions between Turkey and the US moved the B61 nuclear bombs, stored by the US at the İncirlik airbase, back into focus.
A removal was again debated, but Vipin Narang from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pointed out, that the process of moving them under these circumstances poses risks and the weapons "could be vulnerable to accidents, theft or attack".
Following facilities exist in the Incirlik Air Base for the servicing people and their family members:
Following facilities exist in the Incirlik Air Base for the servicing people and their family members:
*AFN-Incirlik – Department of Defense unit providing American Forces Radio and Television Service programming
*Incirlik American Unit School, Home of the Hodjas.
*Incirlik Education Center run by University of Maryland University College for 12 courses per term in departments such as: English, History, Psychology, Mathematics, Science, Foreign Language,
*Business and management, Computers, Government, Sociology, and Criminal Justice.
*Fitness Center
*A Reel Time Movie Theatre that shows second-run movies.
*
Hodja Lakes Golf Course.
*An Outdoor Recreation Center that provides rental services of bikes, camping equipment, barbecue gear, etc. and coordinates trips to local areas.
*A veterinary clinic.
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