| Turkey accepts NATO missile plan Turkish President Abdullah Gul After NATO conceded not to single out Iran as a target in its missile plan, Turkey has accepted the alliances decision to deploy a missile system on its soil.
"The strategic concept adopted yesterday is in line with our expectations. We are very pleased about that," Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Saturday.
In a "strategic concept" released Friday, which details NATO priorities for the next decade, NATO leaders agreed to "develop the capability to defend our populations and territories against ballistic missile attack as a core element of our collective defense."
In September, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Anders Fogh Rasmussen proposed to develop a 200-million-euro (253-million-dollar) US-backed missile system around Europe against possible attacks by "rogue states."
The NATO chief then named Irans nuclear program as one of the reasons that justify the necessity of a missile system, and said, "If Iran eventually acquires a nuclear capability, that will be very dangerous, and a direct threat to the allies."
This is while Iran, as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has declared that it has no plan to develop a military nuclear program.
Amid Western efforts to persuade Turkey to join the NATO missile system, Ankara announced that a plan which singles out Iran as a threat would be unacceptable.
"Mentioning one country, Iran... is wrong and will not happen. A particular country will not be targeted.... We will definitely not accept that," Gul said earlier this month.
"We do not perceive any threat from any neighbor countries and we do not think our neighbors form a threat to NATO," Turkeys Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in October.
Following Turkeys demand, Rasmussen said last week that "it (the final plans of the missile system) need not mention the names of any particular country."
Rasmussen said a total of 30 countries possess ballistic systems that could hit Europe, adding that "this is reality; you dont need to mention names."
NATO member states have also been trying to ensure Russias cooperation in the project.
“By reaching out and inviting Russia to cooperate with us, I believe we also have a real chance to build a security roof for the entire Euro-Atlantic area,” Rasmussen said in the two-day NATO summit in Lisbon on Friday.
Russia, however, has been extremely critical of the plan, arguing that the missile system would be a threat to its sovereignty and that it is meant to pacify its ballistic capability.
Just ahead of the summit, Russia played down the chances of any major breakthrough.
We should first determine "who, how and when can get hold of missile technologies capable of posing a threat to both Russia and NATO member states," Russias Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said earlier this year.
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