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Mevlut Cavusoglu: "Turkey may close Incirlik air base for US over sanctions against S-400 purchase"

11 December 2019 11:45 (UTC +04:00)

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a statement that Ankara may insist that the US leave Incirlik air base if Washington goes ahead with the sanctions it has threatened in response to Turkey's purchase of S-400 missiles, APA reports citing Sputnik.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in November after the meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington that Ankara might buy US Patriot systems, but it considers the US requests to get rid of Russia's air defence systems S-400 an infringement upon its sovereignty.

Deliveries of the latest Russian-made S-400 air defence systems, which caused a significant rift in relations between Turkey and the United States, began in July. According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the S-400 will be fully operational in April 2020.

Washington demanded that Turkey cancel any deliveries of the Russian-made systems over fears that they are incompatible with NATO security standards and might compromise the operation of US F-35 fighter jets. Turkey has insisted that it will continue to accept delivery of the S-400 systems.