“US officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible,” Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement. “In the meantime, US air forces central command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-Isil campaign to minimise any effects on the campaign.”

While the US military has the use of other air fields in Iraq, Incirlik, which is 100 miles from the Syrian border, has become its main staging ground.

Christopher Harmer, a former navy officer turned analyst for the Institute for the Study of War warned of the consequences of the shutdown: “A 48- to 72-hour disruption shouldn’t have a big impact, but if it’s longer than 96 hours, it’s going to have a big impact and the longer it lasts, the bigger the impact.”

He said the coup has given Mr Erdogan the power to “close access to air bases to the US that he couldn’t a week ago.”

The Incirlik airbase is of critical importance to the US military, as not only does it facilitate the US aerial operations against terrorists in neighboring Syria and Iraq, but it is also one of six Nato sites in Europe that house tactical nuclear weapons.

Some have speculated that the base may be held "hostage" by Ankara as a bargaining chip ahead of demands for the extradition of Mr Erdogan's arch enemy, Fethullah Gulen, currently a resident of the state of Pennsylvania.