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Turkey to ask NATO for Patriot missiles along Syria border

Turkey says it is planning to make an “imminent” official request to NATO for stationing Patriot missiles along the country’s border with Syria.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the press on Wednesday that the deployment of missiles is necessary to counter what Ankara perceives as potential military threats from Syria.

Meanwhile, the Turkish daily Milliyet reported on Wednesday that Ankara and Washington have reached an agreement on imposing a no-fly zone along the Turkish border with Syria.

According to the report, Turkey and the US have also agreed to station Patriot missiles in the Turkish city of Kilis near the border with Syria.

The report added that the United States is set to provide security in the no-fly zones along the Turkey-Syria and the Jordan-Syria borders via the Patriot missiles.

Tensions between Turkey and its southern neighbor soared in early October when shells coming from Syria landed in the Turkish border town of Akcakale killing five civilians.

Turkey retaliated against the deadly incident by shelling targets in Syria for several days. At least 10 Syrian troops were reportedly killed in the Turkish fire.

Turkey already hosts another NATO missile system it calls the early warning radar system in the Kürecik province of Malatya in Eastern Anatolia.

Turkey had twice before requested the deployment of Patriot system, both during the first and second Iraq wars in the 1990s and 2000s. In both cases, deployments were carried out by the Netherlands, one of the few NATO members equipped with the system.

Patriot is a long-range, all-altitude and all-weather system employed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.

The system is produced by the American companies Raytheon in Massachusetts and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Florida.

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