From Zaman:  In an exclusive interview with Sunday’s Zaman, Ilmar Tamm, the director of the Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE) in Tallinn, said he expects a steering committee meeting to be held in May to review Turkey’s application to become a full member and hopefully announce a date for a signing ceremony.

Membership in the CCDCOE is open to all NATO members. Turkey was the first to formally apply for a seat at the now seven member center charged with developing defense tactics for the ever-growing security threats in cyberspace. Currently Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovak Republic and Spain sponsor the center, and the US is unofficially on the board.

“We rather prefer that a formal, dedicated member staff the center as it would create problems otherwise,” Tamm said, adding that the US member at the center holds a diplomatic passport. …

Membership carries a financial commitment as well as the obligation to assign at least one full-time staff member to the center. Ankara has already nominated a well-known expert from its Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), as the employee does not need to be a uniformed officer. In fact more than half of the center’s 30 staffers are civilian who have expertise either in the legal field or information security technology. Tamm, who has met the Turkish expert, says he will be a good asset to the research work already being carried out at the center.  (photo: Reuters)

Image: reuters_4_12_10.jpg