NATO to deploy Patriot missiles in Turkey

Started by NewsCaster, Dec 05, 2012, 02:30 AM

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The NATO Military Alliance has agreed to a Turkish request and will station several Patriot Anti-Missile batteries along its border with Syria. ITN's John Irvine reports. By NBC News staff and wire servicesUpdated at 1:35 p.m. ET: NATO foreign ministers on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to deploy Patriot surface-to-missiles in Turkey in order to protect from any spillover from the civil war in neighboring Turkey.

Follow @NBCNewsWorld "We stand with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity and we stand ready to take the necessary steps for the defense of Turkey," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said after the decision.

The move could calm Turkey's fears that it could come under missile attack - possibly with chemical weapons - from Syria.

"The NATO ministers unanimously expressed grave concern about reports that the Syrian regime may be considering the use of chemical weapons," Rasmussen told a news conference. "Any such action would be completely unacceptable and a clear breach of international law."

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