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US Senators Voice Concern Over Turkey Radar Deal

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  • US Senators Voice Concern Over Turkey Radar Deal

    US Senators Voice Concern Over Turkey Radar Deal

    asbarez
    Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

    Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) is one of the senators voicing concern

    WASHINGTON (Agence France Presse) - Two key US senators expressed
    concerns Tuesday about a possible agreement to base a missile-shield
    radar in Turkey, citing the NATO ally's strained ties with Israel and
    relations with Iran.

    Two key US senators expressed concerns Tuesday about a possible
    agreement to base a missile-shield radar in Turkey, citing the NATO
    ally's strained ties with Israel and relations with Iran.

    Republican Senators Jon Kyl and Mark Kirk wrote Defense Secretary Leon
    Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seeking reassurances on
    the possible deal, which was described in a news report last week.

    The lawmakers asked for `written assurances' that data collected by a
    so-called X-band radar `will be made available, in real time' to
    staunch US ally Israel to be `fully integrated into its battlement
    management and control.'

    They also sought a guarantee that `Turkish entities are not engaged,
    or suspected of engaging' in activities that fall afoul of various US
    laws aimed at curbing suspected nuclear weapons programs in Iran and
    Syria and keeping sensitive know-how from North Korea.

    And President Barack Obama's administration must also certify that the
    powerful radar will only be operated by US personnel, and for 24 hours
    a day, seven days a week, except for maintenance breaks, the senators
    said.

    Kirk and Kyl, the number-two Senate Republican, also questioned
    whether the reported decision to locate the radar in Turkey would
    `ensure the best defense of the United States against the Iranian
    long-range ballistic missile threat.'

    They cited a US Missile Defense Agency study that found that the South
    Caucasus to be `the optimum placement' if the system is designed to
    defend against an eventual Iranian ballistic missile attack.

    `The administration's plans for missile defense will require the
    cooperation of the Congress; the prospects for such cooperation are
    jeopardized if the Congress is not provided the information it
    requests,' they warned.

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