According to the U.S. official, the Turkish-deployed radar is facing the
wrong direction to be of much help to Israel.

“In fact, the opposite is really true. Our radar here in Israel helps Turkey

U.S. Maintains Full Control of Turkish-Based Radar
Jan. 30, 2012 - 05:53PM By BARBARA OPALL-ROME Defense News
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120130/DEFREG04/301300013/U-S-Maintains-Full-Control-Turkish-Based-Radar

TEL AVIV — Refuting reports from Ankara, a U.S. government official said a
U.S. X-band radar deployed in eastern Turkey as part of NATO’S ballistic
missile defense shield is operated solely by American personnel, with no
restrictions on the use of data generated by the powerful early warning
sensor.

“That radar is exclusively operated by U.S. personnel, exactly as it is
here. We will control the data and fuse it with data from other radars in
the region to generate the most comprehensive and effective missile defense
picture,” the U.S. official said of the AN/TPY-2 radar recently deployed at
Turkey’s Kurecik Air Force base and a twin system operating in Israel’s
Negev desert.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the visiting U.S. official confirmed
Turkish reports that the AN/TPY-2, produced by Raytheon, began operations in
late December. The site is manned, he said, by some 150 U.S. personnel, a
mix of contractors and military police dispatched from U.S. European Command
in Germany.

But the official vigorously denied Turkish reports of preconditions imposed
by Ankara restricting the sharing of radar data with non-NATO nations,
particularly Israel.

“There are some people in Turkey that did not want the radar. They argued
that the reason we’re putting the radar in there is to help Israel. Well,
that’s not why we’re doing it.”

According to the U.S. official, the Turkish-deployed radar is facing the
wrong direction to be of much help to Israel.

“In fact, the opposite is really true. Our radar here in Israel helps
Turkey. ... Bottom line, it’s in all of our interests to have an American
radar 400 kilometers from the Iranian border,” he said.

The U.S. radar now operating at Kurecik stems from an agreement last autumn
to provide early warning of ballistic missile launches, principally from
Iran.

During a visit last month to Tehran, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu attempted to ease Iranian concerns about the U.S.-deployed radar
on Turkish soil.

“We made it clear that this is a purely defensive [system] against any
ballistic threat,” Davutoglu was quoted in the Turkish press as telling his
Iranian counterpart.