BRUSSELS - Chiefs of defense from NATO and partner countries met in Brussels on Wednesday for spring meetings of NATO`s Military Committee, the senior military authority in NATO.
Turkey is represented at the meeting by Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit.
More than 60 chiefs of defense, from NATO members and the non-NATO contributing nations, are scheduled to discuss NATO-led military operations and missions, especially in Afghanistan and Kosovo at the first session of two-day meetings.
A memorandum of understanding to establish the NATO-accredited Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Estonia will be signed by 6 NATO countries --Germany, Italy, Spain, Slovakia, Lithuania and Latvia-- at the committee meetings, which is the largest gathering in NATO`s history.
The center aims to improve defense capacity against any kind of online attacks.
Several internet sites of governmental, financial and media institutions in Estonia, which joined the Alliance in 2004, were hacked by simultaneous attacks from Russia last year.
Estonia blamed Moscow for planning the attacks that lasted about 3 weeks and increased efforts to put the issue to NATO`s agenda, citing "the country was the target of cyber terrorism."
(TÇ-MS)