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Turkey: US Patriot missiles start arriving

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In compliance with the agreement with Nato, Turkey has started to receive the Patriot missiles to help the country defend against any threats to come from neighbouring Syria.

Germany, The Netherlands and the United States had agreed earlier to supply the ground-to-air missile batteries, which Turkey requested after repeated cross-border shelling from Syria, including an October attack that killed five civilians.

It was reported that Several aircraft had landed with the advance party personnel from 3-2 Air Defense Artillery (ADA) and US military personnel and equipment had also begun arriving Friday at Incirlik Air Base to support NATO’s Patriot batteries deployment at Ankara’s request.

It was also informed earlier that the USA would transport about 400 troops to Turkey in the next several days for the operation of two Patriot batteries and additional equipment would arrive by sea later in January. The Americans will be based in Gaziantep, 50 kilometers north of the Syrian border.

As reported earlier the US team members in Gaziantep need to determine specific site preparations which the US and the government of Turkey must complete before the Patriot firing batteries are put in place in Gaziantep. This relates to specific requirements such as living area, logistics, communications, safety and operational aspects of protecting the population in and around Gaziantep.

On the other hand it was also stated that the Germans would be based in Kahramanmaras which is about 100 kilometers north of the Syrian border and the Dutch in Adana which is about 100 kilometers west of the border.

So far, Turkey has been receiving strong criticism from Russia and Iran which express fears that it could spark regional conflict also drawing in NATO despite the comments made by Nato as to this operation mission is purely defensive that is to protect Turkey (a Nato ally) against a possible threat.

The Patriot systems which will be deployed 50 kilometers from the border in the vicinity of the town of Gaziantep are expected to become operational later this month and this situation will not compromise the effectiveness of the systems.

06.01.2013
MEDIA – BTT

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