Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday said Ankara may close two bases in Turkey where U.S. soldiers are stationed "if necessary".
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday said Ankara may close two bases in Turkey where U.S. soldiers are stationed “if necessary”.
“If necessary, we will discuss with all our delegations, and if necessary, we may close Incirlik [air base in southern Adana province] and Kürecik [radar station in eastern Malatya province],” Erdoğan said in an interview on TV channel AHaber.
“If they are threatening us with the implementation of these sanctions, of course we will be retaliating,” he said.
Speaking about a resolution passed in the U.S. Senate on Armenian allegations over the events of 1915, Erdoğan said the bill was “completely political”, adding: “It is very important for both sides that the U.S. does not take irreparable steps in our relations.”
“We regret that the polarization in U.S. domestic politics has had negative consequences for us and that some groups abuse developments about our country for their own interests in order to weaken [President Donald] Trump,” Erdoğan added.
He suggested that Turkey could also respond with parliamentary resolutions recognizing the killings of indigenous Americans in past centuries as genocide.
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution recognizing Armenian claims on the events that transpired in 1915.
Turkey’s position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.
Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as “genocide” but describes the events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.
Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia plus international experts to examine the issue.
Recognition of the 1915 events as “genocide” had for decades stalled in the Congress, stymied by concerns about relations with Turkey.
Turkey and the U.S. are currently experiencing rocky relations over a range of issues, including the latter’s support for the YPG terror group in northern Syria, inaction against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) as well as anti-Turkey legislation.