Lisbon: Nato has accepted Turkey's demand not to cite Iran as the alliance's reason to set up a new missile defence system.
The move is widely seen as an attempt to ensure the success of its summit in Lisbon this week.
Turkey has repeatedly warned Nato that by stating (at the Lisbon summit) that Tehran's ballistic missiles are a threat to the alliance, it would put the country's regional influence and relations with Iran at risk.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato's secretary-general, has reportedly taken heed. "We do not want to single out particular countries," he told the Financial Times on Wednesday. "More than 30 countries already have, or are aspiring to acquire, missile technologies with a range that can hit Nato territory. So there's no need to single out or name specific countries, because this is an evolving threat."
The compromise by Nato is expected to encourage Turkey, the only Nato country to share a border with Iran, to support the alliance's ballistic missile defence system. Nato hopes that by addressing Ankara's concerns, it will be able to set up the missile system in Turkey and ensure that Russia eventually becomes part of it. "If we succeed in establishing cooperation on missile defence," Rasmussen said, "we can create a common security roof, covering all European territory and this would create a common Euro-Atlantic security architecture."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will be present in Lisbon for the council summit, to be held on November 20, in a clear indication that Russia wants to be an active participant in efforts to redefine European security.
