Asia

Home page

Asia

Turkey says NATO's missile decision affirms solidarity

05 December 2012 00:34 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Turkish Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the NATO's decision to deploy Patriot air-defense missiles in Turkey has affirmed the Alliance's solidarity and unity, APA reports.

On Tuesday, NATO foreign ministers approved Turkey's request to deploy Patriot missiles along the Turkish-Syrian border.

"In response to Turkey's request, NATO has decided to augment Turkey's air defense capabilities in order to defend the population and territory of Turkey and contribute to the de- escalation of the crisis along the alliance's border," the foreign ministers from 28 NATO countries said in a statement after one-day meeting.

Turkey welcomed the NATO's decision. "The measures to be taken are in no way offensive. These measures are defensive and aim to augment our national air defence...These defensive measures have nothing to do with the establishment of a no-fly-zone," Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Unites States, Germany and the Netherlands have the advanced PAC-3 model Patriot missile that Turkey requested last month to deploy along the Turkish-Syrian border for fear that the Syrian crisis might spill over into Turkey.