U.S. State Department official said that Turkey, as a country with good geographic location, plays major role in the U.S. missile defense system.  

Speaking at a daily press briefing, Jim Townsend, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy, stated that U.S. adopted the phased adaptive approach following the abandonment of “the third site system” that was initially to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic, Today’s Zaman reported. According to him, Turkey, as an important NATO, ally also plays crucial role in this context.

Jim Townsend stressed that “as we look at where the ballistic-missile threats can come from, Turkey seems to us to be quite -- very much along the front lines.”

U.S. has held deep discussions on the issue with Turkey, “and now the decisions are in Ankara to make.”