Turkey's position on US missile defense program
Turkey does not share the NATO secretary-general's concerns that the NATO alliance risks being split between those countries that would be covered by the U.S. proposed missile defense program and those that would be left exposed to missile threats from rouge states.
According to NATO officials, the U.S. program would protect almost all of Europe, but not the Southeast, leaving Turkey, Greece and Italy outside the protection shield.
�When it comes to missile defense, there shouldn't be an A League or a B League within NATO,� NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told The Financial Times during an interview.
We don't believe there will be such a split, a Turkish official told the Turkish Daily News when asked to comment on Scheffer's statement. The Bush administration request to install bases in Poland and the Czech Republic as part of its plans for missile defense met Russia's objections, which subsequently caused concerns among several western European countries worried about antagonizing Moscow. The Turkish government does not seem to share these concerns. This is not a NATO project. The United States seeks protection from missile attacks supposedly from states like Iran or North Korea, and they are taking unilateral steps to protect themselves, said a Turkish diplomat familiar with the issue. As for the issue of being left out of the protection shield, Americans told us that the program is not equipped technically to provide protection for Turkey. That is, apparently, by the time a missile is launched from let's say Iran, the defense program would not be fast enough to counter it before it reaches Turkish soil, said the same diplomat. Scheffer suggested in the interview that the U.S. program could be complemented by existing NATO plans to put a battlefield missile defense system into operation by 2010, an idea voiced by other NATO member countries. However, this would mean that the U.S. missile defense system would be financed by member countries, and many in Europe have been skeptical of the cost effectiveness of the U.S. system. The Turkish government is so far not keen on the idea of incorporating the U.S. missile defense program within NATO. Turkey is worried about proliferation of nuclear weapons and does not underestimate the threat posed by the nuclear ambitions of Iran, which claims it will only use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Foreign Ministry sources told the TDN. Talks are underway for the acquisition of shorter-range systems.
Turkish Daily News, LINK
Turkey does not share the NATO secretary-general's concerns that the NATO alliance risks being split between those countries that would be covered by the U.S. proposed missile defense program and those that would be left exposed to missile threats from rouge states.
According to NATO officials, the U.S. program would protect almost all of Europe, but not the Southeast, leaving Turkey, Greece and Italy outside the protection shield.
�When it comes to missile defense, there shouldn't be an A League or a B League within NATO,� NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told The Financial Times during an interview.
We don't believe there will be such a split, a Turkish official told the Turkish Daily News when asked to comment on Scheffer's statement. The Bush administration request to install bases in Poland and the Czech Republic as part of its plans for missile defense met Russia's objections, which subsequently caused concerns among several western European countries worried about antagonizing Moscow. The Turkish government does not seem to share these concerns. This is not a NATO project. The United States seeks protection from missile attacks supposedly from states like Iran or North Korea, and they are taking unilateral steps to protect themselves, said a Turkish diplomat familiar with the issue. As for the issue of being left out of the protection shield, Americans told us that the program is not equipped technically to provide protection for Turkey. That is, apparently, by the time a missile is launched from let's say Iran, the defense program would not be fast enough to counter it before it reaches Turkish soil, said the same diplomat. Scheffer suggested in the interview that the U.S. program could be complemented by existing NATO plans to put a battlefield missile defense system into operation by 2010, an idea voiced by other NATO member countries. However, this would mean that the U.S. missile defense system would be financed by member countries, and many in Europe have been skeptical of the cost effectiveness of the U.S. system. The Turkish government is so far not keen on the idea of incorporating the U.S. missile defense program within NATO. Turkey is worried about proliferation of nuclear weapons and does not underestimate the threat posed by the nuclear ambitions of Iran, which claims it will only use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Foreign Ministry sources told the TDN. Talks are underway for the acquisition of shorter-range systems.
Turkish Daily News, LINK
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