NATO Approves Turkey Request For Syria Border Missiles
Dec. 4, 2012 - 01:59PM By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20121204/DEFREG01/312040008/NATO-Approves-Turkey-Request-Syria-Border-Missiles

BRUSSELS — The NATO military alliance agreed Dec. 4 to deploy Patriot
missiles along member state Turkey’s border as requested by Ankara to help
it defend its territory against threats from Syria.

“NATO has agreed to augment Turkey’s air defense capabilities in order to
defend the population and territory of Turkey and to contribute to the
de-escalation of the crisis along the alliance’s border,” a statement said.

Turkey formally asked its NATO partners to deploy the U.S.-made anti-missile
system after a series of cross-border shellings, including one that left
five civilians dead on Oct. 3.

“We say to anyone who would want to attack Turkey: Don’t even think about
it,” said NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, announcing the decision taken by
the 28-member alliance.

Germany, the Netherlands and the United States have agreed to provide the
Patriot missile batteries, which would come under the command of the Supreme
Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), the NATO statement said.

Stressing that the Patriot system was purely defensive, Rasmussen said
technical discussions would now follow about how many of the U.S.-made
missiles would be deployed and where.

The discussions at NATO came amid reports that Syria is moving chemical
weapons, as the regime of President Bashar al-Assad fights rebels seeking to
oust him.

“NATO members expressed grave concerns about reports that the Syrian regime
is considering the use of chemical weapons. Any such action would be
completely unacceptable and a clear breach of international law,” Rasmussen
said.