Turkey plans to deploy an early warning radar by the end of the year as part of Nato's missile defence system for Europe, officials said Friday. Leaders of the 28-member Nato alliance endorsed plans in Lisbon last year to launch a Europe-wide ballistic missile shield, which US officials say is aimed at thwarting missile threats from Iran.
Technical negotiations about the deployment of the defence system in Turkey "have reached a final stage," Selcuk Unal, spokesman for the Turkish foreign ministry, said in a written statement Thursday. "It is foreseen that the early warning radar system dedicated by the United States to Nato will be deployed in our country," Unal said.