Turkey Won’t Be Able to Ensure Own Security if It Fully Links It With NATO

Commenting on the recent announcement of the Turkish foreign minister that Poland, Romania and Turkey have agreed that the European missile defense needs expanding, Turkish retired Brigadier General Haldun Solmaztürk told Sputnik that Turkey won’t be able to duly ensure its own security if it fully and completely links it with NATO.

The heads of the foreign ministries of Poland, Romania and Turkey have agreed that the European missile defense needs expanding, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at the news conference as the political and military consultations between the foreign ministers of the three countries wrapped up in Warsaw.

The Turkish top diplomat cited “Russia’s aggressive attitude”  as a “serious threat to regional security and stability.”

The Turkish Foreign Minister also pointed out that NATO’s missile defense (Patriot system) is already deployed in all three countries “for defense purposes.”

However Turkish retired Brigadier General Haldun Solmaztürk pointed out to Sputnik Turkey that Turkey does not have a missile defense system on its territory.

Turkey only hosts a land-based early warning radar as part of the joint missile defense system which is currently being deployed in Turkey, Romania and Poland.

“It appears that Mevlut Cavusoglu is poorly informed on the issue,” Solmaztürk told Sputnik.

With regards to the expansion of the system, the retired Brigadier General said that it will likely spark a new arms race.

“The problem of the current Turkish leadership is that they do not study the history of the issue,” he said.

He further explained that the history of the expansion of the missile defense system dates back to the the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty or ABMT) which was signed between the US and the Soviet Union back in 1972 on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against ballistic missile-delivered nuclear weapons.

The major purpose of the treaty was to prevent further escalation of the arms race, he said.

However in 2002 the US unilaterally withdrew from the treaty. And it was the US, not Russia, who actually renewed the arms race, the retired Brigadier General noted.

“Is the foreign minister aware of this fact?” he questioned.

“Does he know how the events were developing from 1972 until 2002,” he further wondered. “And what was after 2002?”

And how the developments reached the current stage, he continued.

“I don’t think so,” he replied.

Solmaztürk however noted that anyone who studies the issue of the disarmament would instantly understand that an attempt to expand the NATO missile defense system will result in a renewal of the arms race. It would result in a return to the Cold War period, which is a cause for a serious concern.

He also said that Turkey won’t be able to duly ensure its own security if it fully and completely links it with NATO.

“Each NATO member state has its own interests and its own vision of this or that problem. And the missile defense system which is currently being deployed in Europe, even though it is formally a NATO system, it is only too clear that it will be under US control,” Solmaztürk said.

Thus, he suggested that it is the US behind this announcement. But such steps by no means will be in the interests of the US as a state or in the interests of Europe or Turkey.

There is a certain group within the US which calls for the exacerbation of the situation in Europe and even around the world.

They would be happy to bring back the tension which was all over the world during the years of the Cold War.

And using the presidential race within the country, they are trying to push forward their initiatives.

“The leaders of our countries need to be vigilant and not respond to such provocations, but, on the contrary do their utmost to strengthen security and cooperation in Europe,” he finally stated.