There is something strange about the
Turkish Incirlik air base. It is very close to Syria. They use it to bomb targets in Syria.
From a security point of view, it’s a roll of the dice to continue to have approximately 50 of America’s nuclear weapons stationed at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, just 70 miles from the Syrian border. These weapons have zero utility on the European battlefield and today are more of a liability than asset to our NATO allies.
The problem is that, if these weapons really had zero utility on the European battlefield, the Americans would not store them there. Hence, they intend to use them, but in circumstances not further specified.
As a result of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, external electrical power from Turkey had been cut to the base and a Turkish no fly order had been put into effect for US military aircraft in the area.
If the coup d'état had succeeded, they would have done something from the Incirlik air base, that could have involved using these tactical nuclear weapons. It must have been something that Erdogan was opposed to, but that he clearly knew about.
Turkish commanders at the site were later arrested and led away after they were accused of allowing at least one tanker aircraft to refuel jets involved in the thwarted mutiny. President Barack Obama brought up the situation at Incirlik with Erdogan during a telephone conversation on Tuesday, McGurk added.
I wonder if ISIS somehow realizes that they are only 70 miles away from completely controlling the situation in the Middle East? If they ever manage to conquer Incirlik, they would be in a position to dictate approximately every kind of peace terms that would cross their mind ...