Malatya set to host missile shield radar

Turkey and the United States have concluded a deal to station an early warning radar system in the eastern province of Malatya as part of a NATO missile defense program to counter threats mainly from Iran." The site surveys and relevant legal arrangements have been finalized, and accordingly a military installation in Kurecik [in Malatya province] has been designated as the radar site," a Foreign Ministry statement said, adding that the base had been used in the past for similar purposes. A document on the deployment of the radar system in Turkish territory has been signed by U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone and Turkey's Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry Feridun Sinirlioglu. Though it’s a NATO project, the memorandum of understanding was signed between Turkey and the U.S. as the radar will be deployed by Washington.