To prohibit the Department of Defense from deploying strategic assets of the United States in the Republic of Turkey.

As part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) nuclear sharing policy, non-nuclear NATO members have hosted United States nuclear weapons and associated forces within their respective territories since the 1960s.

NATO’s nuclear sharing policy was enacted during the Cold War as a means to enhance deterrence of the Soviet Union by involving non-nuclear NATO allies alongside the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.

Turkey has been a member of NATO since the organization’s first enlargement in 1952.

Turkey’s current president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has altered many long-standing Turkish policies and institutions, making the Government of Turkey more authoritarian and Islamist.

The failed coup attempt of July 2016 and the subsequent reprisals against suspected participants raise concerns about the stability of the Turkish government and the discipline of its military.

Turkey continues to develop stronger relations with geopolitical adversaries to NATO such as Russia, China, and Iran.

In October 2019, in response to questions about the security of United States strategic assets in Turkey, the President of the United States noted “we’re confident, and we have a great—a great air base there, a very powerful air base.”.

The Incirlik Air Base website states, “The 39 Operations Support Squadron leads world-class airfield & support operations to orchestrate and control U.S., Turkish, and coalition forces operating at Incirlik Airbase in the execution of full-spectrum airpower and nuclear deterrent operations.”.

Turkey denied the United States access to Incirlik Air Base during the Iraq War in 2003 and refused to allow coalition jets to use Incirlik when ISIS gained ground in Kobani, Syria, in 2014.