Despite Turkey’s growing ties with Iran, the Turkish Defense Minister admitted to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on a visit to Ankara last year that a nuclear Iran is a threat to all of Europe, and endorsed the need for a missile defense shield pushed by the United States, recently released WikiLeaks documents confirmed.
The admission was made during a closed-door bilateral meeting between Gates and his Turkish counterpart Mehmet Vecdi Gonul, who was joined in the meeting by top Turkish General Ilker Basbug. Gates warned the officials that if Iran’s nuclear ambitions are realized, other states in the region will do the same. He also emphasized that in the event Iran develops a nuclear program, Israel would more than likely react militarily.
U.S. officials noted in the classified secret cable, drafted by Gates’ office, that Turkey’s admission “diverges from previous Turkish statements underplaying such a threat.”
Gonul said Ankara is “concerned about the Iranian threat,” stating, “the threat from Iran to Turkey’s European allies would make an air defense capability important.” The cable said that the Turkish defense chief acknowledged that a U.S.-built anti-missile shield would protect Turkey and its European allies.
The cable was sent to the U.S. Embassies in Ankara, Baghdad and Kabul. The cable was also forwarded to the Secretary of State, NATO and the office of the Joint Chief’s of Staff. It also outlined discussions on Pakistan and Turkish military involvement in Afghanistan, stating the positive steps Turkey has taken there.
The February cable was released Dec. 30 on the WikiLeaks Web site. The Web site obtained more than 250,000 diplomatic cables, of which only 1997 have been published.
Turkey has developed close political and strategic ties with Iran.
Those ties were evident during the NATO summit only nine months after the bilateral meeting between Gonul and Gates. In an effort to appease Iran, Turkey demanded that NATO not single out Iran as the reason for the development of a European missile defense shield.
NATO agreed. Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the Financial Times in November, “We do not want to single out particular countries. More than 30 countries already have, or are aspiring to acquire, missile technologies with a range that can hit NATO territory. So there’s no need to single out or name specific countries, because this is an evolving threat.”
When a compromise was reached and the approval of a missile-defense shield went through, Turkey took a step back, wavering on its commitment because of ambiguity it felt regarding the NATO project. The decision came despite Gates’ warning in February regarding Iran and despite Turkey’s own admission of the Iranian threat.
“SecDef (Secretary of Defense) counseled that if Iran goes forward with a nuclear weapons program, other states in the region were likely to proliferate as well,” the cable stated. “Additionally, there was a good chance Israelis would at some point decide that military action was necessary. As Turkey would inevitably be unable to sit out on any conflict in the region, it is important to be prepared militarily. And Ankara should not hesitate to acquire defensive systems, even as the international community works to stop Iran’s efforts.”
Some analysts suggest that Turkey is not a trustworthy partner based on its growing ties with Iran and its wavering commitments with NATO partners.
James Carafano, senior defense analyst with the Heritage Foundation, said that Turkey’s drift is one of the greatest strategic challenges facing the Obama administration.
“There is no sign (that the administration) has a clue how to respond to it,” he said.
“It’s no secret the government of Turkey is looking to balance its interests between east and west, distancing itself from Israel and trying to show a happy face to Iran,” he said.
It wasn’t the only flip-flop by Turkish leaders.
Several months after meeting with Gates, news reports surfaced that Turkey sent anti-aircraft batteries to a village near the Syrian border to protect both Iran and Syria from an Israeli strike. Later, Turkish officials were quoted in news reports saying the country would not give Israel permission to use its airspace against Iran.
Israeli officials spoke out against Turkey’s actions in May, adding that Ankara is not preventing a nuclear Iran but rather helping Damascus and Tehran.
“The Turkish strategy is not sustainable,” Carafano said. “Iran is hardly a dependable strategic partner and as it gets more aggressive, Turkey is going to find it has fewer friends and far less leverage.”
Sara A. Carter is The Washington Examiner’s national security correspondent. She can be reached at [email protected].
