Lieutenant General Mark Phillip Hertling, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Europe announced that personnel appointment has begun to the NATO’s early-warning radar system which has been stationed in Kürecik district of Malatya to protect NATO countries against potential missile threats from Russia and Iran. The system under NATO's umbrella will be protected by U.S. soldiers who will be responsible for internal security at the Kürecik radar base since the Turkish military has no qualified personnel to run the system.

Speaking to American news agency Associated Press, Mark Hertling said that; “We have positioned our forces into the radar system in Turkey. I can speak only for land-based defense forces for now but I can say that we are in a constant coordination with the U.S. Navy and Air Forces and progressing in accordance with the planned time to complete the missile defense system.”

The statement by Hertling is significant in terms of being the first-time confirmation by a senior American commander concerning the operation of NATO’s early-warning radar system as of the past few weeks.

Despite the strong reaction displayed by the residents in the region last year against the deployment of the radar system, Erdoðan said it is possible to consider the radar system as an effective defense measure for Turkey itself.