Bloomberg: 'Turkey Considers Russian Missile Role in Mediterranean Gas Push'

Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Turkey is considering deploying the Russian build S400 missile system along the country’s southern coast, ‘’near where its warships are accompanying vessels exploring for energy, according to four people with knowledge of the deliberations’’.

According to Bloomberg the anti-aircraft batteries might be delivered in weeks.

The article cites Mehmet Seyfettin Erol, head of Ankara-based research institute ANKASAM as saying that Turkey feels increasingly threatened in the Mediterranean by U.S. and Israeli support for Cyprus.

''The U.S. has threatened to sanction Ankara if it goes ahead with the missile deal, concerned that adding Russian hardware to NATO-member Turkey’s military could enable Moscow to gather critical military intelligence''.

Last week Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that work was still underway to determine where the S-400s could be deployed.

However in April, Akar said that the S-400s might be used to defend the capital Ankara, the commercial hub of Istanbul, the southern Incirlik air base or an unidentified industrial facility. Bloomberg sources said the unnamed location could be Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, being built by Russia in Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast.

According to Bloomberg Turkey's refusal to cancel the deal with Moscow and deploy the missiles on the Mediterranean could also alarm countries operating F-35s in the region, including the UK and Israel.