FM:Turkey sees no threat from Iran

By Mahmet Gul 01.11.10
mahmetgul@rocketmail.com

Turkey does not consider that its neighbors, including Iran, pose a threat, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is on an official visit to China, was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti on Sunday.

Turkey supports the establishment of a missile defense system (MDS) of NATO, which will cover all countries of the North Atlantic Alliance. The talks on the possible deployment of the NATO's MDS on the territory of Turkey are expected to be completed before the alliance's November summit in Lisbon. Meanwhile, the Secretary General and the leading NATO countries believe the MDS should be primarily established for protection from the threats of potential nuclear powers such as Iran.

"We do not see any threat from any of our neighboring countries, whether it is Iran, Russia, Syria or others," he said, the Turkish media reported.

"I state quite clearly that Turkey will not be frontal or flanking country, as in the Cold War ... we do not want to see again a zone of the Cold War and its psychology in our region," Davutoglu added, noting that NATO's plans to deploy elements of MDS should be created on the basis of these realities.

The Turkish authorities have repeatedly stated that their preference is not an American, but NATO's MDS. At the same time, the country refuses the claims that allegedly the U.S. is putting pressure on Turkey on placing a missile shield, which was earlier reported by a number of local and Western media outlets.


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