Tag: NATO radar system

NATO Radar System in Turkey makes Iranian nation unhappy

MP: NATO Radar System in Turkey makes Iranian nation unhappy

Ankara, Nov 19, IRNA – Head of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission in a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu here said that installation of NATO Radar System in Turkey has made Iranian nation unhappy.

MP: NATO Radar System in Turkey makes Iranian nation unhappy

In the meeting which took place in Istanbul on Saturday evening Allaeddin Boroujerdi expressed pleasure with bilateral cooperation and increase of commercial level to 15 billion dollars per year.

However, he added that the installation of NATO Radar System in Turkey will create insecurity in the region.

He also criticized Arab League decision on Syria and said while people of Yemen and Bahrain are oppressed and mosques are being demolished in Bahrain by al-Khalifa, the Arab League has been silent, but under pretext of defending people’s rights has suspended Syrian membership.

Boroujerdi continued that the US and the Zionist regime have been trying for many years to eliminate political structure of Syria because of its neighborhood with the Zionist regime and also being the axis of resistance.

The Iranian MP stressed that implementing reforms in Syria is necessary and the Syrian officials have accepted that, but it should be done in a peaceful atmosphere and establishment of resistance army and armed struggle will prevent it.

The Turkish foreign minister said that Turkey is opposed to the west and NATO interference in Syria and if conflicts end in the country and reforms begin, his country will support Syria again.

Davutoglu added that Turkey has done enormous efforts to settle problems in Syria and now is awaiting Syria’s answer to Arab League proposal. He expressed hope that Syria by accepting the proposal ends the crisis.

Referring to bilateral relations between the two countries, the FM expressed pleasure with promotion of economic cooperation and said that Ankara never allows any country to use the missile shield radar system against Iran.

Davutoglu also supported Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities.

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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30671117

via MP: NATO Radar System in Turkey makes Iranian nation unhappy.

November 20, 2011
Despite Tensions With Turkey, U.S. Races Ahead With Controversial Radar System

By Yochi J. Dreazen

Updated: October 5, 2011 | 11:26 a.m.

October 5, 2011 | 11:25 a.m.

The U.S. is moving ahead quickly with a controversial new radar system in Turkey designed to counter a potential missile threat from Iran, a senior U.S. military official said on Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, the top Army officer in Europe, told reporters that a team of soldiers was currently in Turkey’s Kürecik district to survey the proposed location of the radar array. Hertling said the U.S hoped to have the radar system installed and operational by the end of the year, though he hinted that date could slide into 2012.

The Turkish system will be paired with a parallel radar array in Poland as part of the Obama administration’s escalating effort to protect European allies – as well as the U.S. military personnel stationed on the continent – from Iranian missile strikes. Iran has in recent months successfully tested next-generation missiles capable of hitting targets throughout Europe.

Hertling downplayed Turkish opposition to the new installation, arguing that popular protests there failed to attract any large crowds. At one recently organized protest “around nine people showed up,” he told reporters in Washington. “I think the Turks are very happy to have us there.”

But there’s no question the project is deeply controversial within Turkey and threatens to further strain the already-frosty relationship between Washington and Ankara.

The agreement to build the new radar array, which had been under negotiation for months, was finalized in mid-September. Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party almost immediately condemned the plan for putting Kürecik at risk of attack and providing a deal to share data with Israel, which is increasingly unpopular within Turkey.

“The government, which appears to be in a row with Israel in front of the curtain, has turned Turkey into a shield for Israel behind the curtain,” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the party’s leader, said in a press release on Sept. 21.

The Turkish government, which has been steadily downgrading its ties to the Jewish state, responded to the domestic criticism by claiming Israel would receive absolutely no radar data from the site because it is not a member of NATO.

Speaking in Washington late last month, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisted Pentagon claims that the system would be used to help protect Israel had been “corrected.” But U.S. officials privately maintain that data will indeed be shared with Israel, which is thought to face the greatest threat from Iran.

Turkey has also refused to second U.S. claims that the site was primarily designed to shield Europe from Iranian missiles. Ankara persuaded NATO last year to remove from its formal communique about the site any language suggesting the system was being installed to protect against Iran.

The delicate diplomatic balance that the U.S. has been treading with Turkey over the site is the latest controversy to cloud administration plans for installing anti-missile systems in Europe. In 2009, the Obama administration abruptly dropped a long-standing plan to deploy radar arrays in central Europe capable of defending against long-range Iranian missiles, arguing that simpler systems designed to protect against shorter-range missiles would suffice. Instead, the White House said it would install lower-tech systems in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The plans sparked deep public opposition within the Czech Republic, whose leaders felt they were being given too minor a role in the broader missile defense system. Prague formally abrogated its agreement with the U.S. in June and canceled plans to host the array on its territory. In addition to the systems being installed in Turkey and Poland, U.S. officials are talking with Romania about installing radar equipment there.

via Despite Tensions With Turkey, U.S. Races Ahead With Controversial Radar System – Yochi J. Dreazen – NationalJournal.com.

October 6, 2011
Turkey’s decision to host NATO radar system, a miscalculation: Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that Turkey decided to host an early warning radar as part of NATO’s missile defense system due to a miscalculation.

“NATO is seeking to expand its presence in the region and it has made the necessary political and military preparations,” Ahmadinejad stated during a televised interview broadcast live on Iranian television on Tuesday night.

“The shield will be stationed in Turkey mostly to save the Zionists so that they (the Western powers) will be able to react and prevent Iran’s missiles from reaching the occupied territories in the event they take a military action against Iran and Iran launches a missile attack reciprocally,” the president commented.

“In the negotiations we held with the Turkish side, we emphasized that it is a wrong measure since the Zionists will ultimately be gone, and such shields will not affect the survival of the Zionists,” Ahmadinejad stated.

Government not involved in fraud case

Elsewhere in the interview, Ahmadinejad commented on the recent $2.6 billion financial fraud case and said that the government was not involved in the scam.

However, certain people have said that the mastermind behind the fraud had links with Presidential Office Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaii.

In addition, 11 lawmakers had filed a complaint with the Majlis Article 90 Committee against the president but later decided not to pursue the complaint after the Supreme Leader advised officials on October 3 to help pursue the case in an atmosphere of calm.

The president said, “Although the case occurred in the banking system, some thought that they have found an opportunity to settle old scores with Ahmadinejad. However, the government did not have any role in the incident, and the banking system detected the case.”

Ahmadinejad also said that he will keep silence in the face of criticisms leveled at the government over the financial corruption case.

He went on to say that pursuing issues relating to the banking system does not fall within the ambit of the administration.

Ahmadinejad also said that those involved in the case should be seriously dealt with, adding that the three branches of the government are determined to take measures to root out financial corruption.

On the close-door meeting that the three branches of the government held on Tuesday, he said that the issue of the recent fraud case and a number of other matters were discussed during the meeting.

via Turkey’s decision to host NATO radar system, a miscalculation: Ahmadinejad – Tehran Times.

October 6, 2011