Turkey's radar map ready for possible misslie defense deal

While still harboring strong reservations about supporting a planned NATO missile defense system, which it fears could be seen as a program aimed against Iran or Russia, Turkey has begun technical preparation for a possible NATO thumb's-up on the system during its Lisbon summit next month. As part of those preparations, Turkey has been planning to host installations known as X-Band radars in the capital city of Ankara in central Anatolia, the eastern Anatolian province of Erzurum, and also in Istanbul to protect the two bridges straddling the Bosporus. Turkey says it isn't opposed to a missile defense system for NATO's European allies but insists in talks with the US that the project should be built for defensive, not offensive, purposes. Any clear reference to Iran or any other neighboring country as a threat in the proposed system runs counter to Ankara's chief foreign policy objective: "zero problems" with its neighbors.