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  • Turkey Risks Confrontation With Iran Over NATO Missile Shield

    Turkey Risks Confrontation With Iran Over NATO Missile Shield

    Turkey Risks Confrontation With Iran Over NATO Missile Shield

    Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 8 Issue: 172
    September 20, 2011

    By: Saban Kardas

    Turkey has signed a memorandum with the United States on the deployment of a US radar station in the country, which will form part of the missile defense shield project to boost the protection of NATO members against potential missile threats from the East. Earlier this month, the Turkish foreign ministry confirmed that preparations had reached the final stage, and Turkey would host early warning radar to contribute to the Alliance’s missile defense system. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stressed that as part of the integrated NATO project, Turkey will host only radar components, and no interceptors would be installed in the country (NTV, September 4). Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also maintained that after very detailed examination by the Turkish armed forces and foreign ministry, and broad-based consultation at cabinet level, they decided to proceed with the project, as it would enhance the country’s security (Anadolu Ajansi, September 6).

    On September 14, the Turkish press publicized the signing of the memorandum by the foreign ministry under-secretary Feridun Sinirlioglu and US Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone concerning the deployment of the radar at a military base in eastern Turkey, which is expected to be operational by the end of the year. The onsite security at the radar station will be provided by around 50 US personnel, while the area will be protected by the Turkish armed forces. The Turkish foreign ministry also confirmed these developments: “site surveys and the necessary legal regulations have been concluded, and the installation of the radar at a military facility in Kurecik has been decided” (www.ntvmsnbc.com, www.mfa.gov.tr, September 14, Cihan, September 19).

    The radars in Turkey, together with interceptors in Romania and Poland and missile launchers based on warships in the Mediterranean, will be part of the defensive system to protect NATO members against potential missile attacks. When the shield was endorsed by the Alliance at the NATO Summit in Lisbon in November 2010, it was surrounded by many controversies. Concerns over the feasibility and financing of the project aside, the most controversial aspect was Turkey’s reservations about it, which cast doubt on the future of the system (EDM, October 21, 2010).

    At the time, Turkey worked hard to ensure that Iran was not singled out as the country against which the system was developed, fearing that such a development would damage its ties with its neighbors with whom it had forged stronger relations. Over several months of discussion prior to the summit, Turkey even threatened to veto the project, leading to tensions in US-Turkish relations. Ankara later dropped its objections, arguing that the project would also boost its efforts to acquire defensive capabilities against increasing threats from ballistic missiles. Though Turkey claimed credit for preventing Iran from being named in the Lisbon declaration, Western political and military officials have made no secret of the fact that Iran’s missile capability and nuclear program was the main source of concern triggering this project.

    Iran has expressed its uneasiness over these developments. When Turkey first announced that it would go ahead with the plans, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi criticized the project. “The West claims the radar system [in Turkey] is to confront Iranian missiles, but they should be aware that we will not tolerate any aggression against our national interests,” Vahidi said (Hurriyet Daily News, September 7). Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, Ramin Mehmanparast, joined the criticism, noting that “We expect friendly countries and neighbors…not to promote policies that create tension and which will definitely have complicated consequences… Iran condemns any action that creates an arms race in the world and region” (www.worldbulletin.com, September 8). Likewise, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also warned Turkey against this development: “Turkey is among our brothers and sincere friends, but when enemies deploy a missile system there and admit that it is against Iran, we should be careful” (www.farsnews.com, September 17).

    The agreement is proving to be controversial domestically. Amongst Turkish public opinion, there is widespread perception fed by speculative newspaper reports that the missile shield is being built to protect Israel. Main opposition party representatives also express similar views, accusing the government of signing an agreement that would protect Israel, which Erdogan refuted as nonsensical (Anadolu Ajansi, September 6). As a NATO partner, Israel arguably seeks to be protected by the system, while US officials express willingness to fuse information obtained through the radars in Turkey and Israel for greater operability of the system. Yet, Davutoglu insisted that the information gathered through the radar station would not be shared with Israel. Moreover, he stated that Turkey used its veto threat to thwart Israel’s attempt to open an office at NATO Headquarters in Brussels under NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue program (CNN Turk, September 18).

    The Turkish government wants to signal that it remains steadfast in its policy of isolating Israel rather than simply bowing to pressure from Washington to deploy radars on Turkish soil. Instead, the government conveys the message that Turkey willingly participates in the project, because it deems the system vital for its own security. Yet, so far Iran appears unconvinced by this interpretation and might risk a confrontation with Turkey over the issue.

    The extent to which Iran reacts to Turkey’s move remains to be seen. But, Iran’s reference to “escalation” is important in many ways. Part of Iran’s military strategy is based on using its missile program as deterrence against attack by the United States and Israel. If the missile shield project is fully developed, it will reduce the utility of Iran’s missile system, perhaps forcing it to boost its strike capacity, hence triggering an arms race. This is certainly a scenario Turkey wants to avoid, and it will have to tread carefully to allay Iran’s anxiety. However, at a time when Turkey and the United States appear to be working closely in the Middle East, Ankara will likely find it difficult to convince Tehran.

    In contrast, the decision on the basing of the radars signifies a major turning point in US-Turkish relations, as part of Turkey’s broader strategic reorientation of its Middle East policies in a direction in tune with its senior ally. After years of rather confrontational relations, Ankara and Washington are now going through a much more cooperative phase in the region, using also the momentum generated by overlapping policies in response to the Arab Spring.

    https://jamestown.org/program/turkey-risks-confrontation-with-iran-over-nato-missile-shield/

  • Iran says NATO missile in Turkey not a “proper decision”

    Iran says NATO missile in Turkey not a “proper decision”

    ISNA – Tehran

    Service: Foreign Policy

    wh120 21TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Sunday deployment of NATO defense missile shield in Turkey is not a “proper decision.”

    As to the deployment of NATO defense missile shield in Turkey, Salehi said, “It was not seriously offered by Turkey that much and has remained at the level of discussion only, in our viewpoint it is not a proper decision if it was going to be made. It needs a revision since there is no justification for it.”

    “Regional countries have lived together for decades and for the time being recent popular developments in the region are moving towards more unity,” he told reporters on the sidelines of Islamic Awakening International Conference in Tehran.

    As to Omani Foreign Minister’s mediation in the case of the two detained American nationals’release, Salehi said, “Many heads of states have mediated in the issue and we announced their mediation to the judiciary branch and relevant authorities and we hope the suggestion will be welcomed by Iranian judicial officials.”

    via ISNA – 09-18-2011 – 90/6/27 – Service: / Foreign Policy / News ID: 1849951.

  • Iran asks Turkey to explain deployment of NATO missile shield system

    Iran asks Turkey to explain deployment of NATO missile shield system

    Iran asks Turkey to explain deployment of NATO missile shield system

    English.news.cn 2011-09-18 02:23:21 FeedbackPrintRSS

    TEHRAN, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) — Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi on Saturday called on Turkey to explain its plan to deploy a NATO missile shield system in its territory, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

    Salehi said the radar system which will be set up in Turkey has caused concerns in Iran and other neighboring countries, according to Mehr.

    Iran does not think such a system is necessary, taking into consideration the current developments in the region, Salehi said, adding that Iran hopes that Turkey will provide necessary explanations on this issue.

    Iran always seeks to solve its problems with the neighboring countries and to move in the direction of ensuring peace, security and stability in the region, the Iranian foreign minister said, ” We hope to continue the same path in the future.”

    Salehi also expressed hopes that all the regional countries will narrow their differences and avoid providing any opportunity for their enemies who are seeking to sow discord among the regional nations.

    According to earlier reports, a NATO warning radar system is going to be deployed in Turkey by the end of this year and it will be used to track missile launched from Iran.

    via Iran asks Turkey to explain deployment of NATO missile shield system.

  • Turkey Accepts Missile Radar for NATO Defense – NYTimes.com

    Turkey Accepts Missile Radar for NATO Defense – NYTimes.com

    By THOM SHANKER

    WASHINGTON — The final legal and diplomatic building blocks fell into place this week for the Obama administration’s rejiggered defense of Europe against a potential Iranian missile attack. Romania signed a deal for 24 interceptor missiles to be based there, and Turkey officially agreed to have in its territory a sophisticated American radar system that could be on the watch by the end of the year.

    American officials called the deal with Turkey the most significant military cooperation between Washington and Ankara since 2003, when Turkish officials infuriated their American counterparts by refusing to allow an armored division to cross Turkish territory to join the invasion of Iraq.

    “This is probably the biggest strategic decision between the United States and Turkey in the past 15 or 20 years,” one senior administration official said Thursday at a White House briefing meant to call attention to the developments.

    Turkish officials were careful in their comments to avoid identifying Iran as the specific threat motivating their decision to join NATO’s American-designed missile shield. But Turkey is worried by Iran’s evolving missile capabilities and by signs that Tehran has secretly supported the bloody crackdown on protesters in Syria. (Iran crushed its own pro-democracy demonstrations in 2009.)

    There were hurdles to the deal. The Turkish news media published objections to the sharing of information gathered by the American radar with Israel. Relations between Turkey and Israel, once fairly close, soured badly after the Israeli government refused to apologize for the deadly assault last year on a flotilla trying to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

    Still, senior administration officials said Thursday that the United States had not agreed to any restrictions. The data from the radar in Turkey — combined with an array of other data and American intelligence assessments of missile threats — will be shared with allies, including Israel, in keeping with longstanding arrangements, officials said.

    “It’s a U.S. radar,” said one senior official.

    The official said Turkey’s cooperation on missile defense would contribute to its own security and strengthen ties between Turkey, the only predominantly Muslim NATO member, and its Atlantic allies. The White House insisted that the officials not be identified.

    The radar will be placed at a Turkish installation about 435 miles from Iran, officials said. A similar American missile-defense radar already operates in Israel.

    Iranian officials have said the American-led missile-defense initiative will increase tensions and destabilize the region. Russia’s response to American proposals for a European missile-defense system has ranged from virulent objections to hints of cooperation, perhaps merely the sharing of information.

    “The architecture of the system is designed to provide the optimal protection against ballistic missile threats from the Middle East, from Iran in particular,” said one senior administration official. “The system is not in any way directed against Russia.”

    President Obama ordered a significant redesign of the European missile-defense architecture he inherited from George W. Bush, who favored placing interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic.

    Mr. Obama decided to move the system closer to Iran and build it faster, in part because Iran already fields mainly shorter-range missiles. He sped up deployment of Navy Aegis-equipped warships armed with their own radar and interceptor missiles to the Mediterranean Sea. One such ship, the U.S.S. Monterey, is there today, officials said.

    The missiles scheduled for Romania are to be installed by 2015, and 24 interceptors are planned for Poland by 2018. They would be upgraded on a schedule to match American intelligence assessments of Iran’s ability to field missiles of increasing range.

    A version of this article appeared in print on September 16, 2011, on page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: U.S. Hails Deal With Turkey on Missile Shield.

    via Turkey Accepts Missile Radar for NATO Defense – NYTimes.com.

  • Turkey Under Fire For Hosting NATO Radar Protecting… Israel?

    Turkey Under Fire For Hosting NATO Radar Protecting… Israel?

    Turkey’s collapsing relations with Israel over the past week or so have occasioned a new round of hand-wringing about whether the West is losing Turkey. But that drama has overshadowed another, countervailing, development: Turkey’s agreement to host a NATO air defense radar. This has recently been one of the most sensitive Turkey-NATO issues; NATO wanted Turkey to host the system, but Turkey didn’t want it to explicitly target Iran, even though it is obvious to everyone that that’s the threat the system is intended to protect against.

    But for whatever reason, the Turkish government has changed its mind, agreeing to host the radar and even (in a somewhat between-the-lines fashion) acknowledging that it has to do with Iran:

    “We are of the opinion that the step taken [in deploying the radar system] is important for our region. That’s why we, as the government, have decided [to station the system in Turkey] after broad consultations,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late Tuesday.

    That has bolstered Turkey’s relationship with NATO, argues Lale Kemal in Today’s Zaman:

    Turkey’s decision to host on its soil the radar component of a US-sponsored missile shield project should be seen as a political decision reaffirming Ankara’s ties with NATO. This decision comes at a time when the alliance has begun to perceive Turkish foreign policy goals as a deviating from those of the Western club. One Western official commented on the Turkish decision to host the missile defense radar saying, “Turkey is back in the club.”

    And of course, the move has annoyed Iran and (to a lesser degree) in Russia. And Turkey’s opposition also has taken the opportunity to criticize the government — ironically, given everything else that’s going on, for taking Israel’s security more seriously than its own. From another Today’s Zaman article:

    “We don’t believe it appropriate for Turkey to take such a step without any questioning. This system is directly designed as a shield against missile systems targeting Israel. Taking this step without informing the public sufficiently shows that Turkey’s foreign policy is now not centered in Ankara but instead that the government is assuming a foreign policy based on international interests. If a threat really stems from Iran, the government should clearly explain the extent of this threat. The government’s decision will make Turkey a target for missiles. We are convinced that the government’s move is related to Washington’s interests rather than Turkey’s security and that this step is being taken in line with Israeli demands,” [MHP parliamentary group deputy chairman Oktay] Vural said.

    So is Turkey kowtowing to the West and Israel, or turning against them? Or, is all of this evidence that Turkey is moving towards being neither solely “Eastern” or “Western” but something all its own?

    via Turkey Under Fire For Hosting NATO Radar Protecting… Israel? | EurasiaNet.org.

  • United States Pressed Turkey To Host Missile Defense Radar

    United States Pressed Turkey To Host Missile Defense Radar

    By Turner Brinton

    WASHINGTON — The latest U.S. plan for a European missile shield features a radar system that would be deployed next year, possibly in Turkey, to cue interceptors that initially would be based at sea, with upgraded variants to be installed on the ground in Romania and later in Poland, according to leaked U.S. government documents and congressional testimony by senior Pentagon officials.

    U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan for defending Europe against ballistic missiles gained a new level of legitimacy Nov. 19 when the 28-member NATO alliance agreed to a new strategic concept that for the first time includes defending its territories from ballistic missile attacks. Details of that plan have begun to emerge following the Nov. 28 disclosure of thousands of classified U.S. diplomatic cables by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks and a Dec. 1 hearing held by the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee.

    Obama’s Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) to European missile defense would be the centerpiece of the new NATO mission. Announced in late 2009, the PAA replaced the previous administration’s plan to place 10 long-range interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic. That concept drew sharp criticism from Russia, which viewed the system as a threat to its nuclear deterrent. The PAA is expected to be deployed several years sooner to address the most pressing threats: large numbers of small- and medium-range ballistic missiles being deployed by Iran, U.S. officials say.

    The first of four PAA phases would begin in early 2011 when a U.S. Navy Aegis ship equipped with Standard Missile (SM)-3 Block 1A interceptors is deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean, Jim Miller, principal undersecretary of defense for policy, said during the hearing.

    In addition, the first phase calls for deployment of an Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance system to Southern Europe. Miller said the Pentagon expects to meet its 2011 deployment goal but that no decision has been made on a host nation.

    During a January trip to Ankara, Turkey, however, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates pressed Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on an agreement to host the radar, according to a Jan. 26 U.S. State Department cable posted on WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks has started to release what it says are more than 250,000 State Department communications, many of which are classified “Secret.”

    The United States has told Turkey that a decision not to host the radar is essentially a decision to opt out of missile defense coverage, based on the physics and geometry of the missile defense shield, the cable said. Turkey’s primary concern is damaging its relationship with Iran, which the United States has often singled out as a “rogue state” that could threaten the entire region with ballistic missiles. Erdogan, in an earlier meeting with Obama, said the missile defense system would have to be implemented in a NATO context in order to minimize the political cost Turkey would bear, the cable said.

    During another trip to Ankara Feb. 10, Gates told Turkish Minister of National Defense Mehmet Vecdi Gonul that other countries in Southeast Europe might be interested in hosting the radar, but Turkey is the optimal site. Gonul said he considered the PAA to be better than the previous plan because it could cover Turkey, and discussions about hosting the radar were ongoing within the Turkish government, according to a Feb. 16 cable.

    Also disclosed in the leaked State Department cables:

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected a U.S. offer to drop its European missile defense plans entirely in exchange for Russia’s help in pressuring Iran to end its nuclear weapons program during an April 2009 meeting with a congressional delegation led by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.).

    Then-French Defense Minister Hervé Morin expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of a missile defense system deployed to defend European populations during a February meeting with Gates. Gates rebutted the arguments, noting that missile defense contributes to deterrence.

    During the Dec. 1 hearing, meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), chairman of the strategic forces subcommittee, expressed frustration that the Pentagon has not informed Congress of the total funding and inventory requirements for the PAA. This information is being calculated in the Joint Capability Mix-3 study that is being conducted by the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization, said Navy Rear Adm. Archer Macy, the organization’s director. The study is expected to be completed in March and will be delivered to Congress shortly thereafter, Macy said.

    The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is on track to develop and procure the missile defense assets needed for all four phases of the PAA on time, said Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, the MDA’s director. The second phase of the plan, to be implemented by 2015, calls for the installation of 24 SM-3 Block 1B interceptors in Romania. Both the land- and sea-based missiles would be guided by a new fire-control system, Aegis 4.0.1, that would be deployed by that time. The Pentagon by 2015 expects to have an inventory of 292 SM-3 interceptors, both Block 1A and Block1B, according to Miller’s written testimony.

    The third PAA phase, targeted for completion by 2018, includes the placement of 24 next-generation SM-3 Block 2A interceptors in Poland managed by the Aegis 5.1 system. This phase would be the first to incorporate missile tracking data from a planned satellite constellation called the Precision Tracking Space System that the MDA is studying. This phase also would use data from unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with infrared sensors.

    The fourth phase, to be complete by 2020, would feature the Next Generation Aegis Missile, formerly known as SM-3 Block 2B. This would be the first interceptor deployed in the PAA capable of defeating ICBMs headed for the United States.