Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download MP3
The World’s Aaron Schachter reports on what role Turkey might play in President Obama’s new missile defense program and what impact that might have on Turkey’s image in the Middle East.
Read the Transcript
This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.
MARCO WERMAN: One country that might play a more prominent role in America’s new defense system is Turkey. The World’s Aaron Schachter reports on how that could affect the way that country is viewed in the Middle East.
AARON SCHACHTER: For Analyst Maher Mezher, with St. Joseph’s University in Beirut, there is no question what would happen if Turkey were to take on a missile defense system at the behest of the United States.
MAHER MEZHER: Unfortunately, in the Middle East you are either here or there.
SCHACHTER: Mezher says Turkey has spent years positioning itself as the Middle East’s most honest broker. It’s avoided being pigeonholed as a member of either the Iran/Syria/Hezbollah camp or the U.S./Israel/Saudi camp. But if Turkey were to host a missile defense system designed to counter an Iranian threat, its reputation would suffer.
MEZHER: Even if it they will pretend those weapons are American but those weapons are for your safety, the other party will not work with them as an ally any more. Because your actions will show who you are and what you want to be.
SCHACHTER: Not so fast says Rami Khoury. He’s director of the Issam Fares Center at the American University of Beirut. He points out that Turkey already takes sides, and its officials are still trusted. So putting missiles on Turkish territory wouldn’t automatically mean an end to its positive image in the Middle East.
RAMI KHOURY: Turkey is a member of NATO, it’s close to the U.S., it has joint military exercises with Israel, it does a lot of things that do not disqualify it because at the same time it has good working relationships with the Arab countries and with Iran. So I don’t think that having missiles that are marketed as defensive missiles, by itself disqualifies them, no.
SCHACHTER: Khoury says what really matters is how people in this part of the world would view U.S. missiles in their back yard. Khoury says President Obama needs to make the case to regional leaders that it would be in their best interest for America to deploy such a system.
KHOURY: Is there real information they have about an Iranian threat? Is it exaggerated anti-Iranian agitation by many of the pro-Israeli groups in the United States that have become hysterical about Iran? Is it a desperate bid by the Obama people to show that they’re tough on defense?
MEIR JAVEDANFAR: President Obama, with less than one year in office, is proving to be quite a capable chess player in the Middle East.
SCHACHTER: Meir Javedanfar is co-author of the book the Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran about Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He believes that by placating Russia, the United States has gained a pivotal ally in talks with Iran scheduled for October 1st in Turkey.
JAVEDANAFAR: If the negotiations fail and sanctions need to be imposed by having Russia on board, then the changes of tougher sanctions against Iran being applied would increase and that would decrease the chances of war in the region.
SCHACHTER: An increased chance of sanctions would give Turkey something of a stick with which to nudge Tehran. Turkey does a lot of business in Iran, so it doesn’t want an economic embargo either. And there would be no disguising Turkey’s allegiances were it to join in on tougher sanctions. Bulent Aliriza runs the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
BULENT ALIRIZA: They would be very uncomfortable in the event of harsher sanctions, which would bring up the question of the gas purchases from Iran that Turkey is currently engaged in. What the Turks are saying to the Iranians, “Look, do your best in these talks so we can avoid a worsening of the situation now.”
SCHACHTER: But the Turkish government is already causing some to call into question its actions. Turkey’s military announced today it might spend a billion dollars to buy Patriot anti-missile packages from the U.S. The Turkish Foreign Minister says there’s no connection between the missile purchase and President Obama’s missile defense proposal. For The World, I’m Aaron Schachter in Beirut.
Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.
Discussion
No comments for “Turkey’s potential role in missile defense plan”