DAVUTOGLU: NATO, TURKEY CLOSE TO SYRIA BORDER MISSILE DEAL

November 20, 2012 – 14:20 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – NATO member states have agreed to supply Turkey with
an advanced Patriot missile system to defend against Syrian attacks
and talks on its deployment are in the final stage, Turkey’s Foreign
Minister said on Tuesday, Nov 20, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

Turkey has been talking to NATO allies about how to shore up security
on its 900-km (560-mile) frontier with Syria after mortar rounds
landed inside its territory, increasing concerns about the civil war
spilling into neighbouring states.

“The countries who supply NATO with Patriot systems are known, we have
reached an agreement with those countries. The official application
will be completed as soon as possible,” Ahmet Davutoglu told a news
conference.

“Intensive work is underway and the talks have reached the final
stage,” he said in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Only the United States, the Netherlands and Germany have the
appropriate Patriot missile system available. Germany has said it
would analyse such a request “with solidarity”.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters on Monday
that any missile deployment would be a defensive measure to counter
mortar rounds, not to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria.

Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have been
able to take large swathes of land but are almost defenceless against
Syria’s air force. The rebels have called for an internationally
enforced no-fly zone, a measure that helped Libyan rebels overthrow
their long-term leader last year.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress