NATO says Syrian rocket landed outside current Patriot configuration in Turkey

[Hindustani78]

http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_nato-says-syrian-rocket-landed-outside-current-patriot-configuration-in-turkey_376356.html


Dutch soldiers stand next to the Patriot missile system at a military airbase in Adana, southern Turkey, in this January 26, 2013 file photo. (Photo: Reuters)

March 26, 2015, Thursday/ 16:26:08/ DENİZ ARSLAN / ANKARA

A [URL='http://www.todayszaman.com/index/nato']NATO official has said a Syrian rocket that landed close to a Turkish military unit and slightly wounded five people on Wednesday was outside the areas covered by the current Patriot configuration in Turkey.

The official also stressed the area where Patriots provide protection and the specific locations of their deployment were decided after consultations with Turkey.

The Turkish military said on Wednesday it fired shells at Syrian artillery positions near the border in retaliation for a Syrian rocket that landed only 200 meters away from a Turkish military unit in the Turkish border town of Reyhanlı.

“The [Syrian] missile impacted outside the areas covered by the current Patriot configuration,” said a NATO official in Brussels in an email response to Today's Zaman.

The NATO official said: “In response to Turkey's request, NATO foreign ministers decided on Dec. 4, 2012, that NATO would augment Turkey's air defense capabilities in order to defend the population and territory of Turkey against threats posed by missiles from across its border with Syria. The decision on the location and the number of batteries was based on consultations between allies, including Turkey, and a detailed military assessment jointly conducted with the Turkish military.”

The official also stated that the Patriot batteries are deployed “in a way to provide the greatest possible coverage and the maximum protection of the Turkish people against missile attacks.” The official added that “millions of people are better protected on NATO's southeastern border as a result.”

The exploding rocket formed a large crater, caused the roof of a military building to collapse and damaged two vehicles. Five people were injured by broken glass, the military said.

It said the Turkish artillery retaliated by firing at the Syrian regime position.

“We remain vigilant and committed to our Patriot deployment to help protect Turkey against missile attacks,” stressed the NATO official.

The countries currently providing Patriots batteries to Turkey are Germany, Spain and the United States.

Turkey has Patriot missiles stationed in the southern provinces of Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş and Adana. Six Patriot missile batteries were sent to Turkey by the US, the Netherlands and Germany as part of a NATO decision to boost Turkey's air defenses against a potential Syrian missile attack. The batteries had been in those provinces since December of 2012.

The Netherlands stated last year that due to economic reasons they would end the deployment of the Patriot missiles they operated in Adana province by December of 2014. Spain, another NATO country, took over from the Dutch and sent two Patriot batteries to Adana.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, in an exclusive interview with Today's Zaman in October last year had signaled that the number of Patriot missile batteries in Turkey may be increased in order to enhance the defense of Turkey's airspace.

Answering a question on whether Turkey needs more Patriots to defend itself, Stoltenberg said: “We [NATO] are committed to enhancing the air defense of Turkey by deploying Patriots. I know that our [NATO's] military commanders and the military commanders in Turkey are elaborating on the details. For many reasons, it's not possible for me to go into those details. But we are committed to defend, to enhance the air defense of Turkey by deploying Patriots.”

Turkey requested Patriots from NATO after the civil war in Syria broke out in 2011. Then-Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu sent a letter requesting the extension of the Patriot batteries' deployment to areas along the Syrian border in December of 2013. The extension request was necessary, as the Patriots' deployment was set to end after one year.

“The simple fact is that there have been a number of incidents on the border. This is why Turkey requested the alliance's support and the allies decided to reinforce Turkey's air defenses with Patriot deployments last December [in 2012],” NATO Parliamentary Assembly President Hugh Bayley told Today's Zaman in November of 2013.



CHP deputy questions Patriots


In the meantime, main opposition party Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul deputy Umut Oran submitted a parliamentary question on Thursday, asking Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to answer why the Patriots were not effective to defend the Reyhanlı area.
Oran asked, “Does this mean there is a big gap in Turkey's missile defense due to the configuration of Patriots?”

He also enquired whether the Patriots in Adana, Kahramanmaraş and Gaziantep were only providing protection for the US bases, rather than protecting Turkish interests.

Another query was regarding the specific protection area of the Patriots in Turkey and whether it leaves certain border provinces outside this protection.

He also asked whether the Turkish military could have taken the necessary measures to protect Turkey against this recent missile attack.
Lastly, Oran wanted to know whether Turkey needs another pair of Patriot batteries in Hatay province after the recent attack in Reyhanlı.

[/URL]


Turkey, US agree on deployment of armed drones to İncirlik Airbase - POLITICS

Sub Categories: » HOMEPAGE / TURKEY/ POLITICS

Friday,March 27 2015, Your time is 00:13:54

Turkey, US agree on deployment of armed drones to İncirlik Airbase
Sevil Erkuş ANKARA

Print Page Send to friend »

• Share on Facebook

Military officials from Turkey and the U.S. have agreed to deploy armed drones at the İncirlik Air Base in the southern province of Adana, as part of the international coalition fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

During a visit to Ankara on March 11 by the commander of the U.S. Central Command, General Lloyd J. Austin, Turkish and U.S. military officials agreed to deploy two armed drones at İncirlik, but the parties are still waiting for political consent to be sealed with an agreement, a Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News.

The U.S. has been using four unarmed Predator drones at the airbase for 3.5 years. One of the Predators that took off from İncirlik was downed by the Syrian Air Force in Syria last week.

“Syrian air defenses brought down a hostile U.S. surveillance aircraft over north Latakia,” the official SANA news agency reported on March 17, while Turkish officials confirmed that the drone had taken off from İncirlik Air Base.

Ankara and Washington are continuing to negotiate for the deployment of U.S. warplanes as part of efforts to “degrade and destroy” ISIL in Syria and Iraq.

Turkish leaders underline that Ankara would only consider allowing an international coalition against the ISIL to use İncirlik as part of a “comprehensive process” for a solution to the Syrian crisis, indicating that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should also be targeted.

İncirlik stands roughly 400 kilometers away from Raqqa, ISIL’s de facto capital in Syria. The anti-ISIL coalition has been relying on bases in the Gulf and flying nearly 2,000 kilometers a day to reach their targets against the jihadist group.

 

[jamahir]

The Turkish military said on Wednesday it fired shells at Syrian artillery positions near the border in retaliation for a Syrian rocket that landed only 200 meters away from a Turkish military unit in the Turkish border town of Reyhanlı.

the post-ussr world is a joke... nato can send psychopathic terrorists into progressive nations and invade them or prepare to invade... yet when these nations retaliate as is their sacred right, nato will cry outrage and kill more of the defenders.

 

[C130]

fluke missile? or was Syria intentionally trying to kill Turkish soldiers?

 

[Hindustani78]

fluke missile? or was Syria intentionally trying to kill Turkish soldiers?

Syrian air defenses are on alert and Syria do have good numbers of scud missiles thats why Patriot batteries are stationed in Turkey and in case of full scale war these armed drones will be used .

 

[C130]

Syrian air defenses are on alert and Syria do have good numbers of scud missiles thats why Patriot batteries are stationed in Turkey and in case of full scale war these armed drones will be used .

but was the missile intentionally targeted at Turkey??

scud is fairly accurate.

 

[jamahir]

but was the missile intentionally targeted at Turkey??

scud is fairly accurate.

sorry but should we get lost in legal technicalities rather than look at the big-picture which clearly says that turkey government and much of its security elements have been heavily involved in creation of the war against syria which syria is fighting now for four years??

i admire the practical and common sense way of talks given by syrian envoy to the uno... i say syria amass soldiers along turkey border, those soldiers it can spare from the day-to-day fighting against the nato-sponsored terrorists within syria.

 

[C130]

sorry but should we get lost in legal technicalities rather than look at the big-picture which clearly says that turkey government and much of its security elements have been heavily involved in creation of the war against syria which syria is fighting now for four years??

i admire the practical and common sense way of talks given by syrian envoy to the uno... i say syria amass soldiers along turkey border, those soldiers it can spare from the day-to-day fighting against the nato-sponsored terrorists within syria.

sigh ask a simple question and I get the run around

 

[jamahir]

sigh ask a simple question and I get the run around

200,000+ syrian dead are so easily laughed away??

let me ask @Syrian Lion... does he think my responses were over-enthusiastic or were they reasonable??

 

[C130]

200,000+ syrian dead are so easily laughed away??

let me ask @Syrian Lion... does he think my response was over-enthusiastic or was it reasonable??

I was laughing cause I only asked if the scud was intentionally fired at Turkey

 

[jamahir]

I was laughing cause I only asked if the scud was intentionally fired at Turkey

the battery commander can claim "mistake", but does that change the surrounding situation??

 

[C130]

the battery commander can claim "mistake", but does that change the surrounding situation??

that's a whole another conversation.

btw I am pro assad pro kurds. i bet most of the Turks on here think I'm anti-turk

 

[cabatli_53]

It is the first time a ballistic missile(I think) hit Turkish land, While NATO Patriot batteries were sleeping in region. We should accelerate our SAM programs for all air layers and develop Long altitude domestic SAM as soon as possible.

 

[T-123456]

It is the first time a ballistic missile(I think) hit Turkish land, While NATO Patriot batteries were sleeping in region. We should accelerate our SAM programs for all air layers and develop Long altitude domestic SAM as soon as possible.

Always stated that those Patriots are just for show,we cant rely on them.

 

[cabatli_53]

The most interesting part of story is, An idiot who introduce himself as expert of military products in a media organization, tell Turkish people that Patriots radar range is only limited with 20km so Extent of stationed radars couldn't cover the area where Syrian missile hit. I really don't know How type idiots live in that land.

I think It is correct time to put Turkish missiles into the deepest part of their arses but It requires a strong political will, standing and determination to do it. Belly dancing foreign policy and high volume empty voices doesn't lead us to anywhere.

 

[telkon]

that's a whole another conversation.

btw I am pro assad pro kurds. i bet most of the Turks on here think I'm anti-turk

Imo most of the Turks think you're just an idiot.