A key American official continued his European tour in Turkey yesterday, with the United States wanting to go-ahead with building a controversial missile defense system in Europe despite sharp criticism from Russia and some NATO allies.
Deputy Director for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency Brig. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly held key talks with Turkish diplomatic and military officials yesterday after his visit to Hungary on March 29.
Turkish and U.S. diplomatic sources confirmed to The New Anatolian yesterday that during the talks the two sides expressed their views on the missile defense system. U.S. diplomats said that Turkey is one of the most important U.S. allies in the region, adding that the two sides are holding general discussions about the missile system. Details of Turkey's position on the defense missile system and what they may do are on the agenda of following talks.
Turkish diplomatic sources told The New Anatolian that Turkey and the U.S. are holding meetings on a missile defense system at a technical level. The U.S. is informing Turkey, one of its most important allies about its program.
The U.S. general will also meet officials in Poland as well as Greece and Spain.
The U.S. is proceeding with its plans to build a missile shield in Eastern Europe to counter possible incoming rockets from Iran and North Korea, despite strong objections by Russia. The Washington administration is planning to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and build a radar tracking station in the Czech Republic and make them operational in 5 years. As part of its missile defense program, the U.S. is also considering building another radar tracking station in the Caucasus. The possible locations named for this station are Azerbaijan and Georgia. According to NATO and American sources, the planned missile shield, in its earlier phase will protect most of Europe, but Southeast Europe will not be under protection. Turkey, Greece, large parts of Romania and Bulgaria will be out of the sphere of protection.
Turkey's position
Turkish diplomatic sources explained that this is not a NATO project, saying, "The U.S. is aiming for protection against missile attacks from Iran and North Korea and they are trying to take measures on this subject."
The Turkish government has so far not been keen on the idea of incorporating the U.S. missile defense program within NATO. Turkey is worried about the 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.
Director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency Lt. Gen. Henry A. "Trey" Obering III said last week that he has briefed the NATO-Russia Council and has opened discussions with German, French and Ukrainian officials in their respective European capitals. Talks with the Czech Republic and Poland are ongoing, and visits to Spain, Turkey, Greece and Hungary to discuss missile defense issues will take place in coming weeks, he said.
During these discussions, General Obering said he has been asked several recurring questions.
"I get asked, 'Well, first of all, doesn't this upset the balance that we've achieved in the past between deterrence? And what about arms control? Doesn't this contradict arms control measures?'" he said.
General Obering said he reminds European officials that missile defense is part of a spectrum.
"It's part of an entire toolbox that we try to use to address the ballistic missile threat," he said. "At one end of that spectrum you have deterrence, and we believe that that is still a very viable concept.
Moscow strongly opposes such plans and it has threatened to target these areas with its own missile systems. "The Russians have expressed concern about our proposal, which has surprised us," O'Reilly said last week during his visit to Hungary. "The location in Poland and the Czech Republic is not good for defense of the US from a Russian missile arsenal. This is not set up to counter Russian missiles."
However even some European Union officials are worried, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who urged the US to coordinate its missile defense program with NATO.
Emre Caliskan - The New Anatolian / Ankara, LINK
Deputy Director for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency Brig. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly held key talks with Turkish diplomatic and military officials yesterday after his visit to Hungary on March 29.
Turkish and U.S. diplomatic sources confirmed to The New Anatolian yesterday that during the talks the two sides expressed their views on the missile defense system. U.S. diplomats said that Turkey is one of the most important U.S. allies in the region, adding that the two sides are holding general discussions about the missile system. Details of Turkey's position on the defense missile system and what they may do are on the agenda of following talks.
Turkish diplomatic sources told The New Anatolian that Turkey and the U.S. are holding meetings on a missile defense system at a technical level. The U.S. is informing Turkey, one of its most important allies about its program.
The U.S. general will also meet officials in Poland as well as Greece and Spain.
The U.S. is proceeding with its plans to build a missile shield in Eastern Europe to counter possible incoming rockets from Iran and North Korea, despite strong objections by Russia. The Washington administration is planning to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and build a radar tracking station in the Czech Republic and make them operational in 5 years. As part of its missile defense program, the U.S. is also considering building another radar tracking station in the Caucasus. The possible locations named for this station are Azerbaijan and Georgia. According to NATO and American sources, the planned missile shield, in its earlier phase will protect most of Europe, but Southeast Europe will not be under protection. Turkey, Greece, large parts of Romania and Bulgaria will be out of the sphere of protection.
Turkey's position
Turkish diplomatic sources explained that this is not a NATO project, saying, "The U.S. is aiming for protection against missile attacks from Iran and North Korea and they are trying to take measures on this subject."
The Turkish government has so far not been keen on the idea of incorporating the U.S. missile defense program within NATO. Turkey is worried about the 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.
Director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency Lt. Gen. Henry A. "Trey" Obering III said last week that he has briefed the NATO-Russia Council and has opened discussions with German, French and Ukrainian officials in their respective European capitals. Talks with the Czech Republic and Poland are ongoing, and visits to Spain, Turkey, Greece and Hungary to discuss missile defense issues will take place in coming weeks, he said.
During these discussions, General Obering said he has been asked several recurring questions.
"I get asked, 'Well, first of all, doesn't this upset the balance that we've achieved in the past between deterrence? And what about arms control? Doesn't this contradict arms control measures?'" he said.
General Obering said he reminds European officials that missile defense is part of a spectrum.
"It's part of an entire toolbox that we try to use to address the ballistic missile threat," he said. "At one end of that spectrum you have deterrence, and we believe that that is still a very viable concept.
Moscow strongly opposes such plans and it has threatened to target these areas with its own missile systems. "The Russians have expressed concern about our proposal, which has surprised us," O'Reilly said last week during his visit to Hungary. "The location in Poland and the Czech Republic is not good for defense of the US from a Russian missile arsenal. This is not set up to counter Russian missiles."
However even some European Union officials are worried, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who urged the US to coordinate its missile defense program with NATO.
Emre Caliskan - The New Anatolian / Ankara, LINK
Comments