OREANDA-NEWS. The United States uses Turkish military bases, including Incirlik Air Base, only with the permission of Ankara. So at the Pentagon on Sunday, they commented on the words of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan about the possible closure of the Incirlik and Kurejik bases for the United States if Washington imposed sanctions against Ankara for the acquisition of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.

"The presence of US forces in Turkish bases, including the Incirlik base, is carried out with the permission of the Turkish government. We consider the status of our forces in Turkey as a symbol of our long-standing commitment to cooperation and protection of our NATO ally and strategic partner", the Russian media told at the Pentagon.

This is not the first time in Turkey that there has been talk about the likelihood of the closure of the Incirlik air base for the US military. Usually, such rhetoric of Ankara arises in the light of threats from Washington, but it has not yet reached any concrete steps in this direction. Lawmakers have allowed the Pentagon to "spend up to $ 30 million on the storage of six Turkish F-35 fighters that were previously used to train Turkish pilots" at the US airbase before Ankara was excluded from this program due to the purchase of the S-400.