Turkey is Part of US Led Coalition to Wage War on Iran: US-NATO Missile Radar Operates Despite Russian, Iranian Opposition

By Raquel Maria Garcia Alva
Global Research, January 17, 2012
Prensa Latina 17 January 2012
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Ankara: An early warning radar that is part of the NATO missile shield has been operational in Turkey since January 1st, regardless of being rejected by Iran and Russia.

The US-made AN/TPY-2 system is operating in the Kurecik military base, in eastern Malatya province, where US troops in charge of handling it arrived in late last year, according to local Hurriyet journal.

The radar can detect, track and identify small objects at great distance and altitude, including space.

According to the source, a high-ranking Turkish Army official will run the facility from NATO headquarters in Germany, in line with a pact reached between the parties.

The source added that Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Knud Bartels and the Turkish army’s top commander, Necdet Ozel, talked about the operation of the radar on January 9.

Ankara says that the location of the radar has a defensive nature, but Iran and Russia reject its deployment in Europe as it threatens their national security.

In late 2011, Moscow activated its missile systems in the area of Kaliningrad as a response to the threat posed by the NATO-US missile shield on European soil.

Meanwhile, spokesman for the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, said last Thursday that “the Turkey-based US radar is not good for any Muslim country” and neither will it contribute to stability and security in the region.

The activation of the radar comes amid increasing tension between Tehran and the West around the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran warned that it would close the Strait, where over 40 percent of world crude goes, if the United States and the European Union maintained their pressure to make it give up its nuclear program for peaceful purposes.

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