Parts for Patriot missile batteries arrive in Turkey
RT,
19
December, 2012
Parts
for the Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries Ankara requested
from NATO have started to arrive in Turkey. They were accompanied by
39 German technicians, who will maintain the system.
“Some
parts have started coming as of this morning,” the
Bloomberg quotes the Turkish Ambassador to the US Namik Tan.
However,
he could not confirm which pieces have been received or when the
batteries would become operational.
Diplomat
Namik Tan also restated Turkey’s official position that the Patriot
batteries would only be used for self-defence and with NATO
oversight.
"These
will be used in a situation where Turkey is attacked," the
diplomat was quoted by the US News & World Report.
Tan
did not mention if the batteries would fire across the Syrian
border.
The
diplomat added that the Turkey is currently consulting with NATO
allies about where the missile installations should be located.
German
advanced military personnel have also arrived in Turkey to help set
up the batteries. Colonel Manfred Stange reported Tuesday that 39
staff members were heading to the south-eastern city of
Kahramanmaras, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the Syrian
border.
The
full Patriot missile complex is to be installed at the beginning of
2013. The batteries will be brought to Turkey from Germany by
sea.
Germany’s Bundestag gave its approval to the deployment on December 14, but it remains unknown when all 400 soldiers, involved in maintaining the Patriot system will arrive. The mission is time-limited to January 2014.
The
US military will also be involved, on Friday Secretary of Defense
Leon Panetta signed an order to deploy two Patriot air-defense
missile batteries to Turkey along with 400 troops.
"We
will start to move personnel and equipment soon. We're anticipating
the US systems and personnel being in place by mid-January, if all
goes as planned," a
Defense Department spokesperson explained to News and World Report.
At
the beginning of December, NATO foreign ministers agreed to the
deployment of six Patriot missile batteries from Germany, Netherlands
and the US on the Turkish-Syrian border.
This
was in response to a request for assistance from Ankara, which fears
more violence could spread across the border from its war-torn
neighbour, including possible use of chemical weapons.
Turkey to Iran: Stop criticizing Patriot, put pressure on the Syrian regime
The
deployment of Patriot missiles has heightened tensions between Turkey
and Iran, which has been supportive of the Syrian regime since the
beginning of the civil unrest.
The
Islamic republic lashed out at Ankara arguing the move would only
further aggravate the Syrian conflict.
Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu replied to Tehran Tuesday
that “instead
of criticizing the (Patriot) system’,
it should “send
a clear message” to
Syria’s regime.
“Iran
should say ‘stop’ to the Syrian regime that has been continuously
oppressing its own people and provoking Turkey through border
violations,” AFP
cited the official.
Over
the weekend Iran’s President Ahmadinejad cancelled his visit to
Turkey’s Anatolian province in protest at the NATO reinforcement of
the Turkish-Syrian border.
Iran’s
Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who was in Moscow
on Tuesday discuss the Syrian conflict, reiterated his country’s
support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Amir-Abdollahian
said he did not believe Assad and his government were about to fall.
The
Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the Syrian issue can be
resolved by political means, he said.
Iran
sees the solution in a transitional government that must be formed
with the inclusion of Bashar al-Assad as the legitimate President of
Syria.
NATO sends its soldiers to install Patriot missiles in Turkey
360
Dutch soldiers along with 400 German soldiers sent by NATO arrived at
the American airbase in Turkey just outside the city of Adana named
Incirlik.
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