Category: NATOSource

NATO Allied Land Command activating next week in Turkey

By John Vandiver, Stars & Stripes

From John Vandiver, Stars & Stripes:  A new NATO land command headquarters, restructured to streamline costs and decision making, will be activated next week in Turkey as the new home for planning how infantrymen from the 28-nation alliance fight together.

Syria condemns Turkey’s request for NATO missiles as ‘provocative step’

By Reuters

From Reuters:  Syria on Friday condemned Turkey’s request for NATO to deploy Patriot defence missiles near their common border, calling it "provocative", after a spate of fighting there that has raised fears of the Syrian civil war embroiling the wider region.

Turkey tells Moscow that Patriot missiles are ‘strictly for defense’

By Reuters

From Reuters:  Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday that Moscow has no reason to worry about the Patriot missiles Ankara has asked NATO to deploy on its troubled border with Syria.

Lavrov: Patriot missile deployment in Turkey will lead to further regional destabilization

By RT

From RT:  [ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei] Lavrov iterated Russia’s concerns about plans to deploy Patriot missile systems on Turkish territory in a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

If NATO approves Patriot missiles for Turkey, deployment could still be weeks away

By AP

From AP:  Even if NATO quickly approves Turkey’s request for the deployment of Patriot missiles on its border with Syria, winning parliamentary approval, selecting sites for the air defense batteries and transporting them there means they probably wouldn’t be operational for weeks.

Turkey’s official statement on request for ‘Allied air defense elements’

By Foreign Ministry of Turkey

Russia opposes NATO missiles on Turkey-Syria border

By Voice of America

From Voice of America:  Russia has warned against NATO’s possible deployment of Patriot missiles near Turkey’s border with Syria.

United States can’t pivot away from Middle East

By Robert Kagan, Washington Post

From Robert Kagan, Washington Post:  No one was suggesting the United States could or ought to have all the answers, but among this gathering of Arab, North African, South Asian and European diplomats and international civil servants, the overwhelming consensus was that the superpower is AWOL. The only question was whether the absence is temporary […]

Westerwelle: Germany will accept Turkey’s request to NATO for Patriot missiles

By Reuters