Turkish National Defense Minister said Wednesday, Dec 7 that what was to be placed in Turkey was only a radar system.

Speaking to reporters in the central Anatolian province of Eskisehir, Ismet Yilmaz said that "the radar system poses no threat to any one. It is a defense system that does not target any specific country".

The radar would be used for NATO purposes and a Turkish officer will be involved in the operation process of the radar, Yilmaz stressed, according to Cihan.

Turkey agreed to host an X-band radar system at a military base in the eastern town of Kurecik as part of a NATO-backed missile shield designed to protect NATO's European members from growing threats of ballistic missiles.

NATO mentions no country as a source of threat, in line with Turkey's demands to that effect, but the missile system is widely known to be designed against Iran.