Turkey says not threatened by Russian missiles

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey has said it does not feel threatened by a Russia’s warning to deploy missiles to target the U.S. defense system in Europe.

The launch of a new anti-missile radar station in the Russian Baltic Sea region of Kaliningrad on November 29 should be treated by the West as the “first signal” of Russia’s readiness to counter “threats” posed by NATO’s missile defense plans, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. “If our signal is not heard, as I said on November 23, we will continue deploying other defense means,” he said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, speaking to reporters while returning from a visit to Cairo to attend an Arab League meeting on Syria, said the radar to be deployed in Turkey was for defensive purposes only. “If someone would attack Russia, it is their business. Our [radar] does not pose a threat against Russia. It is, in the end, for defensive, not offensive purposes,” he said.

The Russian missiles, Davutoğlu added, are “not a threat to us, as long as they are for offensive purposes.”

The US X-Ray radar will be deployed at a base in Kürecik, Malatya, in eastern Turkey. Ankara has agreed to host the radar after lengthy negotiations with the United States and receiving assurances that no country will be named as a source of threat.