Soldiers of the Air Defence Missile
Squadron 2 stand guard with Patriot missile launchers in the background in Bad
Suelze, northern Germany
on December 4, 20
Turkey,
a longtime geopolitical hotspot, has recently played a key role in the struggle
for influence between regional and Western powers over NATO missile deployments
– Ankara is once again at the
center of a global crisis.
What prompted this new crisis (and evoked a distinct feeling
of Cold War déjà vu) was Ankara’s
appeal to NATO to deploy its Patriot missiles in the southern Turkish
provinces, along the 900-km-long border with Syria.
While described as a purely defensive move, aimed at enhancing Turkish security
in the wake of the escalating Syrian war and alleged possibility of a chemical
weapons attack by the cornered President Assad, the initiative was denounced
straight away by Ankara’s neighbors
and other regional powers – Moscow,
Tehran and Damascus.
“Moscow was wary of the NATO anti-aircraft system’s
deployment in Turkey,” Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov
said last week during talks with the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Knud
Bartles.
Remarks were echoed by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Aleksandr Lukashevich, who warned last Friday that “the stockpile of extra
weapons” in the border area would “bring about an additional element
of tension."
However, there is little chance the Patriot deployment
process on Turkish soil will be reversed. At its ministerial meeting in Brussels,
held on December 5th and 6th, NATO unequivocally gave the Turkish request its
stamp of approval, standing by the commitments under the organization's
collective security pact. A team of NATO officials and experts has already
landed in Turkey
to finalize the terms and conditions of the deal, which will allow Ankara
to station six NATO Patriot systems on its soil – two American, two German and
two Dutch. The missiles are expected to reach Turkey
soon, within weeks according to some estimates.
One could ask: What is wrong with Turkey’s
genuine wish to effectively seal off its borders from hundreds of potential
threats emanating from its troubled neighbor, and take advantage of being a
NATO member? Independent military experts have found NATO's official
explanation of Patriots being used for defensive purposes confusing.
The Patriot system is not used against shells and
rocket-propelled grenades, which eventually could be fired at Turkey
from Syrian territory. Patriot missiles are used to intercept and destroy
missiles as well as to shoot down aircraft. But what missiles does Syria
possess that the Patriots could be used against, and why would President Assad
arm these alleged missiles with deadly sarin gas (if he even possesses such
chemical weapons)?
The pretext for the deployment of NATO Patriot missiles in Turkey
does not appear credible. But if the real motive is not to deter Syria,
why is NATO hurrying to station its anti-missile systems in the region, a part
of the world already overloaded with deadly weapons? What if this move has a
hidden agenda?
“Turkey
has explained its request to NATO as exclusively related to its need to defend
itself from a possible attack from the Syrian army. But there could be a second
motivation for this actions, which is a preparation for military strike against
Iran,”
a Russian diplomatic source told Kommersant daily.
If one considers the distance between the region of Patriot
deployment in Turkey
and the Iranian border, Moscow's
worry could seem a bit far-fetched. However, Patriot missiles can easily be
moved to any region in Turkey,
including its eastern border with Iran.
“These are mobile units that can be moved to any point in Turkey.
It’s only about 500 kilometers from where the units will be located to Tebriz
in Iran, where
some say there are secret nuclear facilities,” Dmitry Polikanov said. Polikanov
is the vice president of the Moscow-based PIR
Center, an independent thinktank.
“Considering that the US
wants to use Turkey
as an advance missile shield, the Patriots might be stationed there forever. Turkey
wanted to modernize its weapons anyway and already started taking bids for
similar weapons systems. Under these circumstances, the weapons are most likely
directed against Iran,"
Polikanov said, adding that any kind of provocation could now become a pretext
for war. And the installation of NATO anti-aircraft missiles in Turkey
means that Iran
will no longer be able to retaliate if attacked.
Iranian armed forces chief General Hassan Firouzabadi said
last Saturday that the lessons of 1962 Cuban missile crisis may return to haunt
the world.
"Each one of these Patriots is a black mark on the
world map, and is meant to cause a world war. They are making plans for a world
war, and this is very dangerous for the future of humanity and for the future
of Europe itself," General
Firouzabadi warned.
The already tense relations between Ankara
and Tehran have been further
strained by a last-minute announcement that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has
skipped a much-awaited visit to Turkey
and talks with Prime Minister Erdogan in a move largely seen as a sign of Iran's
growing displeasure with the Patriot deployment.
No comments:
Post a Comment