Turkey intel monitoring neighbors' missiles as regional tensions rise

http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/secure/2013/03_20/me.asp

 

Turkey intel monitoring neighbors' missiles as regional tensions rise

ANKARA — Turkey's intelligence community has reported monitoring the missile arsenals of neighboring states, including Iran and Syria.

The Turkish military has been operating electronic surveillance missions of such countries as Greece, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Officials said the military's General Staff Electronic Systems Command has focused on monitoring the ballistic missile arsenals of several of these countries amid rising tension in the region.

NATO deployed missiles in southern Turkey: The General Staff Electronic Systems Command (GES) is monitoring missile movements in the region, intelligence officials recently told a parliamentary commission.

"In regards to neighboring countries, we are trying to detect their locations through signals in order to provide national security," an official said.

Officials said the intelligence effort has included Turkey's civilian National Intelligence Organization, known by the Turkish acronym, MIT. They said Turkish military assets were tracking the radars of regional air defense, ballistic missile and aircraft platforms.

"When they [military assets] are turned on, we will know," the unidentified official told a recent session of parliament's Eavesdropping Examination Committee.

In 2012, MIT was granted responsibility for military reconnaissance facilities south of Ankara. The General Staff Electronic Systems Command has been assigned communications intelligence and electronics intelligence.

Officials said Turkish intelligence monitoring was bolstered after the Syrian military shot down a Turkish Air Force F-4 fighter-jet in June 2012. They said the downing of the F-4 led to intensified efforts to locate and track the air defense, ballistic missile and military aircraft of Syria as well as other neighboring states.

"Until that incident, we had classified Syria in a different category of that of Iran," another official said.

The military and MIT have sought to reach a division of responsibilities. Officials told parliament that MIT sought strategic intelligence while the military focused on tactical and operational data.

"We have responsibility for the entire signal intelligence. and we mainly provide service to the Turkish Armed Forces," an MIT official told parliament.

In late 2012, Syria began deploying its ballistic missile arsenal against Sunni rebels located near the border with Turkey. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Syria has fired 90 Scud B missiles into rebel-held areas since the beginning of the year.

"Assad's forces have fired 85-90 Scud missiles over the last two months," Davutoglu told Turkey's NTV television. "They press a button in Damascus and the missile lands in a residential area in Aleppo and kills civilians."