Turkey could shut down its Incirlik airbase, which hosts US nuclear warheads, in response to threats of US sanctions and a separate US Senate resolution that recognized mass killings of Armenians a century ago as genocide, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sunday.
US senators recently backed legislation to impose sanctions on Turkey over the purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system earlier this year and its recent military operation in northern Syria.
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"If it is necessary for us to take such a step, of course, we have the authority ... If this is necessary, together with our delegations, we will close down Incirlik if necessary," Erdoğan said on A Haber TV.
Incirlik is a key air base used about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the Syrian border. Since November 2011, the US Air Force has flown drones from the base and has used it to carry out airstrikes against Islamic State.
Turkey can also close down the Kürecik Radar base if necessary, he added. "If they are threatening us with the implementation of these sanctions, of course, we will be retaliating," he said.
Kürecik is a military installation located in southeastern Turkey. It was established in 2012 for use by NATO as an early-warning radar against ballistic missile attacks.
Turkey condemned the US Senate measure last week. Erdoğan suggested on Sunday that Turkey could also respond with parliamentary resolutions recognizing the killings of indigenous Americans in past centuries as genocide.
