On October 4th, Wednesday, the Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research hosted a Bilkent International Security and Strategy Seminar. Dr. Sıtkı Egeli, Izmir University of Economics, joined us as a guest speaker for the seminar entitled “Air and Missile Defense: An Overview of Turkey’s Needs, Options and Decisions”.
Dr. Egeli presented in-depth review of air and missile defense in technical terms and operational circumstances occurring recently in Turkey. He began by introducing the categories of threat with a specific focus on the ballistic missile threat as the most problematic issue. As he talked about the phases of air defense and ballistic missile defense strategies, Dr. Egeli overviewed how to counter air and missile threats and technologies developed over time. Finally, he touched upon what Turkey has done so far for air and missile defense, its needs, and technical, technological and political challenges faced by Turkey’s decision makers in satisfying those requirements.
The seminar concluded with a Q&A session during which the participants primarily discussed Turkey’s recent decision in favor of employing Russia’s S-400 air defense systems.