Turkey's
defence against the Assad regime has been bolstered with the arrival
of the Patriot Missiles. In a bid to avoid direct confrontations
with the the Syrian military as much as possible, Turkey called for the deployment of the
missiles to guard her border with Syria.
The Turkish
port of Iskenderun welcomed a German ship carrying patriot missile equipment as part of an effort to stop violence in Syria
from spilling over its borders.
240 German troops had earlier touched down in Turkey to be deployed to the border with Syria, as part of a NATO mission. The Suecia
Seaways vessel later arrived on Monday after the Netherlands-registered Louise
Russ ship
also carrying missile kits pulled into the area on Sunday night.
The
German batteries are part of a NATO contingent of Patriot missiles
that intercept incoming ballistic missiles, which will remain in
Turkey for a year. Two Dutch and two US batteries are also being
deployed to other parts of southern Turkey.
In
December, NATO announced its decision to position Patriot
anti-missile systems near Turkey's southern border to defend against
the threat of cross-border attacks and bringing the United States and
its allies closer to the Civil War raging between Syrian opposition
rebels and President Bashar Assad's regime.
Turkey,
a NATO member, requested the missiles to boost its air defences.
Violence has flared along the border in recent months, with Turkey
firing artillery across the frontier to retaliate for Syrian shells
hitting Turkish soil.
Iran
and Russia have objected to the move saying Syria could just be a
smokescreen to upturn the military balance and calculations in favour
of NATO and the United States. They believe the missiles might be available more to spy on their weapons' systems than counter Assad's forces.
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