[Aljazeera] Turkey could shut down its Incirlik air base that hosts US nuclear warheads in response to threats of US sanctions, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned. US senators backed legislation last week to impose sanctions on Turkey over the purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defence system earlier this year and its recent military operation in northern Syria.
"If it is necessary for us to take such a step, of course we have the authority... We will close down Incirlik if necessary," Erdogan said on A Haber TV on Sunday.
Incirlik is a key air base used by the Turkish Air Force located outside the city of Adana, about 150km from the Syrian border. Since November 2011, the US air force has flown drones from the base and has used it to to carry out air strikes against the armed group ISIL (ISIS).
The United States stores nuclear weapons at Incirlik as part of the legacy of the Cold War.