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TURKEY'S CHANGING ROLE IN NATO
Hurriyet Daily News
May 22 2012
Turkey
A two-day NATO Summit in Chicago was concluded May 21 with the
adoption of a new "Smart Defense" strategy, just as it had been
announced in advance.
The 28 members agreed to coordinate use of their military resources
under dire circumstances of global economic difficulties to overcome
global threats together.
In an environment where the United States is in the process of shifting
its focus from the Atlantic-Europe zone to the Pacific-Asia zone,
the new NATO strategy fits into American needs to entrust interests
in the Atlantic-European zone to their allies there by providing
them new ways, means and tools to do that. And lessening the burden
on its shoulders is one of the reasons behind all that smart defense
resource sharing thing.
The missile shield is an important part of that strategy. The shield
project, which NATO said yesterday was officially in active use,
consists of five units: The command center in Ramstein, Germany,
the intercepting missiles on board the U.S. missile ships off the
Spanish coasts, land-based missile batteries in Poland and Romania,
as well as an early warning radar site in Kurecik, Turkey. A White
House Fact Sheet yesterday revealed that only the Kurecik radar, an
AN/TPY-2 type one (which has been effectively in use since January)
has been transferred by U.S. President Barack Obama from U.S. to NATO
operational control; the others will remain U.S. sites.
There is a detail here. Israel has the same radar on its soil, and if
that radar would fully satisfy the U.S.' needs, it would be hard to
find any reason why Washington would ask Ankara to hear their needs
and demands in return. NATO control, of course, gives a different
hand to Turkey vis-a-vis its relations with northern neighbor Russia
and eastern neighbor Iran; both are not very happy because of the
presence of the radar as they feel like the targets.
Turkey comes into this picture in a different way. When the U.S. focus
was on the Atlantic-Europe zone, Turkey was on the eastern fringe
bordering Russia and the energy basins of the Persian Gulf and the
Caspian Sea; now in the Pacific-Asia focus, Turkey remains in the
picture at the western fringe and with the capabilities to have an
influence on the Islamic political geography. Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Pakistan yesterday to discuss their
future role in Afghanistan on behalf of the Western alliance while
the Western leaders were discussing the same issue in Chicago some
ten thousand miles away.
These qualities bring an upgraded role to Turkey in the NATO system
as well and are not limited to a new (Land Forces in İzmir) command
and more officers. It is a political one and in order to enhance it,
the U.S. and major European allies are seeking two improvements in
two main fields: Upgraded democratic standards which are expected
to come with the new constitution that is being prepared and better
relations with the neighborhood - that usually means Israel, Cyprus
and Armenia nowadays. If the new coalition in Israel comes closer to
an apology over the killing of nine Turks in the 2010 Mavi Marmara
flotilla tragedy, that could be a good start for the process.
Hurriyet Daily News
May 22 2012
Turkey
A two-day NATO Summit in Chicago was concluded May 21 with the
adoption of a new "Smart Defense" strategy, just as it had been
announced in advance.
The 28 members agreed to coordinate use of their military resources
under dire circumstances of global economic difficulties to overcome
global threats together.
In an environment where the United States is in the process of shifting
its focus from the Atlantic-Europe zone to the Pacific-Asia zone,
the new NATO strategy fits into American needs to entrust interests
in the Atlantic-European zone to their allies there by providing
them new ways, means and tools to do that. And lessening the burden
on its shoulders is one of the reasons behind all that smart defense
resource sharing thing.
The missile shield is an important part of that strategy. The shield
project, which NATO said yesterday was officially in active use,
consists of five units: The command center in Ramstein, Germany,
the intercepting missiles on board the U.S. missile ships off the
Spanish coasts, land-based missile batteries in Poland and Romania,
as well as an early warning radar site in Kurecik, Turkey. A White
House Fact Sheet yesterday revealed that only the Kurecik radar, an
AN/TPY-2 type one (which has been effectively in use since January)
has been transferred by U.S. President Barack Obama from U.S. to NATO
operational control; the others will remain U.S. sites.
There is a detail here. Israel has the same radar on its soil, and if
that radar would fully satisfy the U.S.' needs, it would be hard to
find any reason why Washington would ask Ankara to hear their needs
and demands in return. NATO control, of course, gives a different
hand to Turkey vis-a-vis its relations with northern neighbor Russia
and eastern neighbor Iran; both are not very happy because of the
presence of the radar as they feel like the targets.
Turkey comes into this picture in a different way. When the U.S. focus
was on the Atlantic-Europe zone, Turkey was on the eastern fringe
bordering Russia and the energy basins of the Persian Gulf and the
Caspian Sea; now in the Pacific-Asia focus, Turkey remains in the
picture at the western fringe and with the capabilities to have an
influence on the Islamic political geography. Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Pakistan yesterday to discuss their
future role in Afghanistan on behalf of the Western alliance while
the Western leaders were discussing the same issue in Chicago some
ten thousand miles away.
These qualities bring an upgraded role to Turkey in the NATO system
as well and are not limited to a new (Land Forces in İzmir) command
and more officers. It is a political one and in order to enhance it,
the U.S. and major European allies are seeking two improvements in
two main fields: Upgraded democratic standards which are expected
to come with the new constitution that is being prepared and better
relations with the neighborhood - that usually means Israel, Cyprus
and Armenia nowadays. If the new coalition in Israel comes closer to
an apology over the killing of nine Turks in the 2010 Mavi Marmara
flotilla tragedy, that could be a good start for the process.