Turkey passes NATO role to Germany

Soldiers pose with Turkish, German and NATO flags during the ceremony.

The command of the Standing NATO Maritime Group-2 (SNMG-2) was handed over to Germany from Turkey, in a ceremony at the Aksaz Naval Base in the western town of Marmaris on June 15.

Only a few ship hijacking incidents had taken place in Somalia during Turkey’s period of duty, Rear Admiral Sinan Azmi Tosun said at the opening of the ceremony. Tosun, who handed over the mission to his German colleague Thorsten Kahler, said that during Turkey’s year-long duty, six and a half months had been spent in Somalia fighting successfully against sea pirates.

Tosun said they were proud that sea piracy had decreased by 65 percent during Turkey’s duty, thanks to their successful fight against it. “We conducted operations against 10 sea pirate ships and arrested 175 sea pirates … A total of 15 NATO ships were involved in operations during Turkey’s command,” he said.

The ceremony ended after the Turkish troops handed over the NATO flag to their German counterparts, who will now command operations. (MUĞLA - Anatolia News Agency)

Article 5 applies if Kürecik attacked: US

This file photo shows NATO’s radar base in Kürecik village of eastern Turkey. Hürriyet photo

A potential Iranian attack against the NATO early warning radar system installed in Turkey will be interpreted as an aggression against the whole of NATO, and requires the application of article five of the alliance, the United States’ top envoy at NATO has said.

“If Turkey were to be attacked, just like if the U.S. or Canada or any other NATO member states were to be attacked, article five applies no matter what the circumstance is, no matter what the reason is,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder said at an online press conference Thursday.

Daalder was responding to the Hürriyet Daily News’ question on whether the alliance would defend if Iran targeted NATO’s early warning radar system deployed in Kürecik, a district in Turkey’s eastern province of Malatya. Considering that the system is against Iran, some Iranian officials have not hesitated in threatening Turkey that they could hit the installation.

“Article five of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization says an armed attack against one is an armed attack against all,” Daalder added.

“Deployment of the U.S. radar in Turkey is a fundamental part of the missile defense system that we are collectively deploying in NATO. At Chicago the leaders declared an interim missile defense capability. So that the radar and other assets could operate under the operational control of NATO,” he said.

Ambassador Daalder recalled that President Barack Obama announced during the Chicago Summit that the authority over the control and command of the radar had been transferred from U.S. commanders to NATO commanders. “The radar will operate under NATO rules of engagement under NATO operational control, on a day to day basis,” he said.

No way to intervene Syria
Answering a question about NATO’s possible military intervention to Syria, Ambassador Daalder referred to the U.N. Security Council and to the activities of the Syrian opposition groups.

“For most NATO members, the U.N. Security Council has to mandate military action. That is what happened in Libya. It hasn’t happened with Syria. It isn’t likely to happen with Syria,” he added.

However, he did call on the Syrian government to stop violence against civilians. (Istanbul-Anatolia News Agency)

Afghan helicopter crash kills two NATO soldiers

REUTERS Photo

Two NATO soldiers died when their helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, the military said, taking the NATO death toll to 10 in three days.

"The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash," the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

ISAF did not reveal the nationalities of the victims.

Another NATO aircraft crashed during routine operations in eastern Afghanistan earlier Monday with no fatalities, the military said separately.

Taliban insurgents claimed in text messages to journalists that they had shot down two NATO helicopters.

In the south, an ISAF soldier also died Monday "following an insurgent attack," the alliance said.

On Sunday, three troops were killed, while on Saturday four died in separate bomb blasts in the south.

The latest deaths take the toll among NATO troops in Afghanistan this year to 175 and the total in 10 years of war to 3,022, according to an AFP count based on records kept by icasualties.org.

NATO has some 130,000 troops in Afghanistan but they will withdraw by the end of 2014, leaving the fight against Taliban insurgents to Afghan forces.

The Taliban have stepped up their attacks across the country since announcing the start of their spring offensive at the beginning of May.

But NATO deaths so far this year are down compared to the same period last year.

In April 2011, for example, 51 NATO soldiers were killed compared to 39 in April 2012. (KABUL - Agence France-Presse)

Russia tests new missile after NATO summit

AFP photo

Russia today staged the first successful test-launch of a new intercontinental missile designed to penetrate the defense system now being deployed by NATO despite Moscow's fierce complaints.

The highly-symbolic launch came just days after alliance formally activated the first stage of a missile defense shield whose deployment Russia has bitterly opposed out of fears that it may target its own vast nuclear arsenal.

"The dummy warhead reached its target area at the Kura test range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The set goals of the launch were reached," Interfax quoted Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces spokesman Vadim Koval as saying.

A military source told the agency that the launch was only the second ever conducted in the top-secret program.

The source said the first failed on Sep. 27 when the missile suffered an undisclosed malfunction and crashed only 10 kilometers from the launch site.

The rocket still has no formal name but is being billed by the military as a "fifth generation" weapon that substantially upgrades the technology used by its already-feared feared Topol-M and Yars systems.

Various sources told Interfax that the new missile was better equipped to penetrate the new U.S.-backed missile defence system in Europe whose first stage NATO official activated at its Chicago summit on Sunday.

"This is one of the ... measures being developed by Russia's military and political leadership in response to the U.S. deployment of a global anti-missile system," former strategic forces director Viktor Yesin told Interfax.

Little is known about the new weapon except its purported ability to better avoid being shot down.

The Russian missile "uses a new type of fuel that helps reduce the time required to operate the propellants in the active stage of the rocket's trajectory," one military source said.

Officials believe this makes it more difficult to detect and easier to manoeuvre. Interfax said the weapon is also equipped with individual warheads that can change course to avoid being shot down.

Russia has hundreds of missiles capable of raining down nearly 2,000 nuclear warheads on the United States and its other former Cold War-era foes.

But much of the force is built on technology developed in the Soviet era that Russia fears may become obsolete by the time NATO's shield becomes fully operational by the scheduled date of 2018.

Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a massive new armaments program during his successful election to a third term and made a visit to a military factory one of his first high-profile stops after his May 7 swearing in.

Putin's predecessor and protege Dmitry Medvedev warned the West last year that Russia will have to deploy new rockets on the borders of NATO's European partners such as Poland should its concerns not be addressed.

The army's top general Nikolai Makarov this month also warned the United States that Russia reserved the right to preemptively strike NATO targets once it feels its shield posed a significant threat.

U.S. President Barack Obama has sent multiple negotiating missions to Moscow and was earlier this year caught by an open microphone telling Medvedev that he intended to negotiate more on the issue should he win re-election in November.

The Russian military forces spokesman said the missile was launched from a mobile system at the northern Plesetsk space base at 10:15 am (0615) GMT on its 6,000-kilometers journey to the Pacific.

News reports did not specify the missile's actual range nor the number of warheads it can carry. (MOSCOW - Agence France-Presse)

NATO’s anti-piracy ship arrives in Istanbul

NATO flagship HNLMS Evertsen, which will take command of the organization’s counter-piracy mission in the Indian Ocean anchored in Istanbul yesterday morning. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

NATO flagship HNLMS Evertsen, which will take command of the organization’s counter-piracy mission in the Indian Ocean anchored in Istanbul yesterday morning.

Commodore Ben Bekkering of the Royal Netherlands Navy and commanding officer of the standing NATO Maritime Group 1 said he was pleased to head to the region to take over the duty of Turkey’s TCG Giresun Frigate led by Rear Admiral Sinan Azmi Tosun, who is currently conducting the anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden and surrounding regions.

Attacks decreasing

“We will meet them in the Indian Ocean at the beginning of June to conduct the duty for the second six months of the year,” Bekkering said during a press conference on board the Evertsen yesterday.
Bekkering said they had attained their aims when asked about the success of NATO operations in the Indian Ocean.

“We saw that the number of attacks went down rapidly. It was more than 10 now it’s two in a certain time of period,” he said. However Bekkering added that a combination of efforts from the United Nations and the European Union is intended to manage the problems in Somalia, which has no police forces.

‘Fighting piracy makes a difference’

German Frigate Rheinland-Pfalz also accompanied the Evertsen. Lt. Cmdr. Navigating Officer Heinrich Grosheim said they not only fight against pirates but also they conduct rescue operations.

“We rescued 425 Egyptian refugees from offshore Libya in March and managed to transfer them from Libya to Tunisia safely,” Grosheim told the Hürriyet Daily News. Lt. Cmdr.

Karen Gelijns of the Evertsen staff also said they were looking to make a difference in the region by fighting piracy.

The ship will stay in Istanbul until May 26, and its second stop will be the southwestern province of Muğla’s Marmaris port from where it will sail through the Indian Ocean. (ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News)

Turkey concerned over post-NATO Afghanistan

NATO chief Rasmussen (L), Turkish President Gül (C) and his US counterpart pose during the NATO meeting in Chicago. REUTERS photo

President Gül expresses gloom about post-NATO Afghanistan, saying the alliance has not even won over Afghan troops, let alone the people

Ankara is greatly worried about Afghanistan’s future following the looming departure of NATO troops, Turkish President Abdullah Gül told alliance leaders May 20, suggesting that the organization is preparing little groundwork for the future.

“Let us not fool ourselves. We have spent so much effort and money on Afghanistan for an [entire] decade. If everything reverts back to the old order after [NATO’s] withdrawal, would not all this effort and money end up going to waste?” Gül reportedly told his counterparts at a dinner hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama after the NATO summit in Chicago.

Gül said Obama had requested their help in preparing the summit declaration, adding that his blunt and uncensored talk on Afghanistan during the dinner may have also paved the way for others to come out more easily.

“We did not even place our trust in the Afghan military, let alone the Afghan people. Take a look at Afghan troops on one hand, and the alliance troops on the other. They do not even have boots on their feet and helmets on their heads. We could not even win the [Afghan] troops yet. Trillions of dollars were spent, but no asphalt was laid on the roads of Kabul, despite the fact that it is a [low-cost] job,” he said.

The Turkish president said they had always pondered military issues that would accomplish nothing if the alliance fails to win the locals’ hearts. “[The Taliban] would just return back if you withdraw. Let us emphasize humanitarian matters at least starting from today until 2014.”

U.S. forces are set to pull out of Afghanistan in 2013, while NATO is schedule to stay until 2014.
Gül also said instability or the emergence of an undesirable situation in Pakistan would cost the world dearly and cautioned against ostracizing and cornering the South Asian country.

“It is not right to adopt an ostracizing or antagonistic attitude toward Pakistan. You nearly did not call them to the summit. I spoke to [Pakistani President Asif Ali] Zardari; he says they killed this many of our troops and our citizens and did not even issue a single apology,” Gül said. “Do not forget; they are also administrators who come to power through elections and account to their people in the end,” he added.

“Zardari will not come [here]; then we are going to brag on our own about what great victories we have won and conclude the meeting to end up fooling ourselves,” he said.

Pakistan’s own security concerns must also be understood, he said, adding that the trilateral meetings between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey were highly important. “We are trying to [prevent] mistrust between Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

Gül further said he had acquired the impression that most NATO countries were anxious to withdraw from Afghanistan as soon as possible.

The general at the helm of Pakistan’s intelligence said he would never have come to the meeting but attended nonetheless only because of Turkey’s call, he said.

The historical friendship and cooperation treaty of 1921 between Afghanistan and Turkey will also be renewed, Gül said, adding that an agreement for strategic cooperation would also come about. “Our interest in Afghanistan, our presence there and our assistance will continue after 2014 as well,” he said.

Gül meets new French president

Meanwhile, Gül also met with newly elected French President François Hollande on May 20. Gül reportedly inquired about the reasons behind France’s antagonistic attitude toward Turkey despite the lack of any conflict of interest between the two countries, as well as a host of mutually shared interests on every subject.

Gül further asked Hollande why no French president had come to pay a visit to Turkey for the past 20 years, according to reports.

In response, Hollande called for the reset and repair of Franco-Turco relations. Gül also met with German Chancellor Angel Merkel at midday on May 20, during which they focused on Europe’s economic problems and especially Merkel’s complaints about Greece, according to reports. (İsmet Berkan-CHICAGO / Hürriyet)

Gül defends NATO missile radar system

The TPY-2 radar system in Kürecik cost around $150 million to 200 million.

Turkey’s decision to host a missile defense radar in eastern Anatolia demonstrates its commitment to NATO, President Abdullah Gül said May 18 en route to Chicago for the alliance summit while outlining Ankara’s plans for the conference.

“Turkey will make an active contribution to the decisions to be taken at the Chicago Summit,” Gül told reporters. “We will declare a missile defense capability which aims to eliminate the risks and threats of the proliferation of ballistic missiles,” he said, adding that the heads of state and government of 60 countries, as well as the 28 NATO members, would attend the Chicago conference.

During his stay in the United States, Gül will also meet with Turkish expatriates, visit Silicon Valley, participate in a conference on leadership at Stanford University and speak at think tanks.

NATO will also discuss the future after the end of the International Security Assistance Fund’s (ISAF) operation in Afghanistan in 2014, Gül said, adding that the countries supporting the operations of the alliance in the country would meet on the sidelines of the summit.

The president said he would meet the chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies and attend a conference on Turkey’s economy and foreign policy priorities during his U.S. trip. (ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News)

NATO responds to Human Rights Watch report

In a June 19, 2011, file photo made on a government-organized tour, members of the media and others examine the remains of a damaged residential building in Tripoli, Libya. AP Photo

NATO just a statement in response to a Human Rights Watch report that held the organization responsible for deaths of 72 civilians during bombing in Libya.

The report called NATO to acknowledge the deaths, as well as to pay compensation to the families of the deceased.

The full statement is as follows:

"NATO conducted the campaign for Libya with unprecedented care and precision and to a standard exceeding that required by international humanitarian law. The mission was fully consistent with the United Nations mandate and saved countless lives.

NATO did everything possible to minimise risks to civilians, but in a complex military campaign, that risk can never be zero. We deeply regret any instance of civilian casualties for which NATO may have been responsible.

NATO did not have any troops on the ground during the operation, and received no mandate to conduct activities in Libya afterwards. The Libyan authorities informed the United Nations of their efforts to review incidents which affected civilians. We have clearly communicated to the Libyan authorities that we stand ready to support their efforts in reviewing particular events.

NATO has looked into each credible allegation of harm to civilians. We have reviewed all the information we hold as an organisation and confirmed that the specific targets struck by NATO were legitimate military targets. Individual allies are continuing to conduct further assessments into some of the alleged incidents.

This was the first air campaign in history where only precision-guided munitions were used. NATO approached each individual targeting decision with extraordinary caution. We had solid intelligence and a very strict target selection process. The day of the week, time of day or night, or even the direction of attack were carefully considered to minimise any risk of civilian casualties. We conducted 9,700 strike sorties and dropped over 7,700 precision bombs, but no target was approved or struck if we had any reason to believe that civilians would be at risk. Whenever possible, we used the weapon with the smallest yield to avoid unnecessary harm or damage. In some cases, as many as 50 hours of airborne video observation was conducted and analysed before a strike was authorised. Hundreds of possible strikes were aborted at the last moment due to the perceived possibility of a civilian presence. Military forces and facilities were only struck if they were directly involved in directing, enabling or facilitating attacks on civilians. Troops that did not pose a threat to civilians were not targeted.

Over the last summer, as was well documented, the situation on the ground in Libya was highly fluid, and for tactical advantage, the Qadhafi regime often used civilian rather than military infrastructures, to conduct military activities, including mosques and hospitals. At the time, regime forces often wore civilian clothing and drove civilian vehicles.

NATO provided regular and detailed briefings to the United Nations Security Council throughout the conduct of the operation. Moreover, NATO fully cooperated with the International Commission of Inquiry on Libya (ICIL) and provided a significant amount of information, much of which had to be de-classified, to show that each target struck was a legitimate military target."
(ISTANBUL Hürriyet Daily News)

Gunman in Afghan uniform kills NATO soldier: NATO

A NATO soldier runs to the scene of an attack by Taliban militants in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 15, 2012. AP Photo

A man in an Afghan army uniform opened fire on NATO allies, killing one soldier before being shot dead, the NATO-led force in Afghanistan said Thursday.

"An individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon against coalition service members in southern Afghanistan late yesterday, killing one service member," NATO's International Security Assistance force (ISAF) said. (Agence France-Presse)

Turkey to report Syria at NATO

Turkey is expected to raise the issue of “violation” of its Syria border at a NATO ministerial meeting today, while Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is planned to attend to the Friends of the Syrian People group’s meeting in Paris on April 19.

Davutoğlu will move to Paris from Brussels after attending to the NATO’s foreign ministers meeting. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, is also expecting to be present in Paris meeting. The meeting in Brussels, to be attended by Davutoğlu and Turkey’s Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz, will prepare the ground for NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Chicago on May 20-21. On April 9, Syrian forces opened fired and wounded four Syrians and two Turkish staff working at a refugee camp in the first case of Syrian fire hitting people on Turkish soil. Ankara strongly condemned the “violation” of its border, with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan saying: “NATO has responsibilities with regards to Turkey’s borders, according to Article 5.”

NATO’s U.S.-led missile defense system will be high on the agenda at today’s meeting. Davutoğlu and Yılmaz will also hold several bilateral meetings during their stay in Brussels. The foreign ministers of NATO member states will participate in the NATO-Russia Council, while foreign ministers of non-NATO states will contribute to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan on April 19. The first phase of the NATO missile defense system - with Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors on Aegis ships (the USS Monterrey in the Mediterranean Sea) and tracking radars on Turkish soil - is expected to be declared operational at the Chicago summit. The radar in Kürecik district of Malatya province was launched after an agreement between Turkey and the U.S. The radar will be commanded from the Alliance’s Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The command center of the radar system at the 2nd Tactical Air Command in Diyarbakır will ensure coordination with the headquarters in Germany. The whole missile defense system will be managed from the Geilenkirchen base in Germany, where a Turkish general and his team will be among the officers. (hurriyetdailynews)