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Tuesday, October 26, 2010
US agrees not to forward to Israel warnings of Iranian missile derived from monitoring system installed in Turkey

Turkish sources said Washington has agreed to the demand that no information
from the system will be shared with Israel, on the grounds that Israel has
its own advanced missile-detection systems for tracking Iranian threats.

Report: Turkish intelligence severed relations with the Mossad
Turkish newspaper reports agencies stopped exchanging intelligence and
conducting joint operations following Turkish government decision.
By Zvi Bar'el and Barak Ravid Haaretz Published 01:35 26.10.10
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/report-turkish-intelligence-severed-relations-with-the-mossad-1.321167

Amid the strained relations between Ankara and Jerusalem, Turkish
intelligence has severed its working relations with the Mossad, the Turkish
newspaper Sabah reported on Monday.

The report stated that the two agencies, which once enjoyed tight
cooperation, had stopped exchanging intelligence and conducting joint
operations following a Turkish government decision on the matter.

The report's credibility remains unclear, but high-ranking Israeli officials
privy to the matter neither confirmed nor denied it on Monday, and the prime
minister's bureau declined to comment.

In June, Amir Oren reported in Haaretz that Israeli security officials were
deeply concerned by the appointment of Hakan Fidan to lead Turkey's National
Intelligence Organization. Fidan, a close associate of Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, is viewed as a proponent of closer relations between Turkey
and Iran.

Meanwhile, Turkey has conditioned its consent to stationing a NATO
missile-defense system on its territory on a guarantee that no information
collected by the system be transferred to Israel.

Since the American-sponsored plan's original purpose was to defend NATO
countries against the possibility of an Iranian attack, this means Turkey is
essentially demanding that Israel not be given vital information about
Iranian missiles.

The previous U.S. administration had planned to station the system in
eastern Europe. But due to fierce opposition from Russia, the Obama
administration decided to relocate and scale back the system, which will now
focus mainly on deterrence and on monitoring Iran's missile program.

Turkey was initially reluctant to host the system at all, lest it damage
Ankara's relationship with Tehran. But since it is a NATO member, and since
it faces growing criticism in the United States for its seeming turn away
from the West, it said it would agree under certain conditions.

One was that the system officially be designated as aimed not against
threats from Iran (or from Syria or Russia ), but against missile threats to
Turkey and Europe in general. Another was direct Turkish access to any
information gathered by the system. A third was full Turkish participation
in any and all decisions stemming from information gathered by the system -
which would enable it to work against any NATO move to attack Iran. And the
fourth was that information gathered by the system not be given to any
non-NATO member, and especially not to Israel.

Turkish sources said Washington has agreed to the demand that Iran not be
designated as one of the system's targets. They said it has also agreed that
no information from the system will be shared with Israel, on the grounds
that Israel has its own advanced missile-detection systems for tracking
Iranian threats.

Washington, they noted, has little choice but to agree, since Turkey's
opposition would kill the plan: Aside from the fact that Washington needs
Ankara's consent to put the system on Turkish soil, the decision to
establish the system requires unanimous consent by all NATO members.
Moreover, Washington is under severe time pressure, as it hopes to get the
project approved at the upcoming NATO summit on November 19.

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