Nato approves Turkey request for Syria border missiles
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BRUSSELS (AFP) - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) on Tuesday agreed to deploy Patriot missiles along the border of member state Turkey as requested by Ankara to help it defend its territory against threats from Syria.
"Nato has agreed to augment Turkey's air defence capabilities in order to defend the population and territory of Turkey and to contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along the alliance's border," a statement said.
Turkey formally asked its Nato partners to deploy the United States (US)-made anti-missile system after a series of cross-border shellings, including one that left five civilians dead on Oct 3.
"We say to anyone who would want to attack Turkey - don't even think about it," said Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, announcing the decision taken by the 28-member military alliance.
