Talks in Vienna and Brussels this week could lead to the establishment of a nuclear missile shield to protect Turkey, if Iran acquires a nuclear bomb within its uranium enrichment activities as the Western powers suspect.
Russia and member states met yesterday in Vienna in an emergency conference to resolve a row over Moscow's call to review a key Soviet-era arms treaty. The conference on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, set to run until Friday, was called by Russia.
In a parallel development, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, defense ministers from the 26-member military alliance hold their first talks with new Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov. The mood at the talks was expected to be dictated by progress on talks in Vienna.
The CFE was signed in 1990 to limit troop and military deployments. It was modified in 1999 to adapt it to the new European security environment that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia has ratified the revised version, but NATO countries refuse to do so until Moscow withdraws its troops from Georgia and Moldova. This has sparked Russians who are threatening to freeze the CFE or drop out altogether.
Turkey sees the CFE treaty as the pillar stone of European security, and is against any change or review of the treaty that took years to negotiate. The Turkish government is in full accord with the position of the Alliance that insists that Russia has to fulfill its commitments before the ratification of the modified treaty, said a Turkish diplomat. “We need to be creative to find a compromised solution. Russia could offer a timetable for the withdrawal of its troops and the Alliance could set a date for ratification in accordance with that timetable,” said the same diplomat.
The row over the CFE treaty was triggered by Russian anger at a U.S. plan for a missile shield in eastern Europe. NATO was expected to discuss yesterday a possible extension of the planned U.S. missile defense to the alliance's vulnerable southeastern flank, diplomatic sources told the Turkish Daily News. A senior U.S. official said that Washington was expecting its allies to "endorse a re-orientation of the NATO work" on the alliance's small theatre missile system, used mainly to protect troops with a view to bolting it on to the U.S. shield, reported the AFP yesterday. This, when it becomes operational in around 2011, would help protect allies like Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Turkey which would not be completely covered by the U.S. system.
The United States plans to use interceptors in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic, a configuration Washington says is ideal for blocking any missile, for example from Iran, heading towards the United States and most of Europe. However, it will provide less cover to countries closer to the perceived threat, notably Turkey, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria. NATO officials hope the alliance can agree by a summit next April to start work on a so-called "bolt-on" system that will deploy complementary interceptors to cover southeast Europe, Reuters reported yesterday.
“We are at a very preliminary stage. But Turkey fully supports the so called “bolt-on” system,” an official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry informed the TDN. NATO's plans, if realized will therefore provide a nuclear protection shield for Turkey which neighbors Iran, accused of trying to acquire nuclear weapons. This will spare Turkey the cost of establishing unilaterally its own nuclear shield. Turkey wants to avoid a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
Meanwhile the United States sounded more interested in Kremlin proposals for cooperation in the shield, yesterday ahead of talks between NATO defense ministers and their Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov.
"I will certainly underscore our interest in exploring with them President Putin's proposal with respect to the radar in Azerbaijan," American Defense Minister Robert Gates told reporters, according to Reuters.
Turkey preaches total transparency and dialogue in the missile row with Russia. According to Turkish diplomats, Russia's proposal of deploying the missiles shield in Turkey is not realistic. Washington turned down Moscow's proposal since the system, aimed mainly at intercepting missiles from countries like Iran, is not operational when it is built in such a close geographical location.
Turkish officials dismiss Russia's concerns over the planned U.S. missile shield. “Russia's reaction to U.S. plans on missile shield and U.S. deployment in Bulgaria and Romania can partly be understood,” said a Turkish official familiar with the issue. But the Turkish side is of the view that Moscow's response, including their threat to freeze CFE is disproportionate. Taking into consideration Russia's political agenda, with general elections scheduled for December and a presidential poll early next year, some Turkish officials argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin's reaction to the West has to do with domestic politics rather than with real security concerns. “By focusing the attention toward Europe, Russia forwards its agenda in Central Asia,” said a diplomat.
(Turkish Daily News, 15/06/2007)