Expert: NATO radar in Turkey to cause regional tensions

PanARMENIAN.Net - Deployment of a NATO missile defense shield in Turkey will create tensions in the region, an Armenian expert said.

“Turkey will never convince Moscow that the NATO radar doesn't present any danger for Russia,” Levon Hovsepyan told a news conference in Yerevan

According to him, Ankara will found itself in an awkward position. “Turkey will never convince Moscow that the NATO radar doesn't present any danger for Russia,” Hovsepyan said.

“Moreover, it’s not accidental that Iran holds offensive exercise for the first time over the past 30 years. Tehran has never eyed Ankara as a reliable regional partner,” he added.

Turkey has recently agreed to host the early warning radar as part of NATO's missile defense system aimed at countering ballistic missile threats from neighboring Iran.

The Turkish and U.S. governments said the radar system will help spot missile threats coming from outside Europe, including potentially from Iran. The system, provided by the United States, is to become operational later this year.

Iran slammed the decision as “destabilizing.”