Spain, the third country participating in the NATO mission in Turkey, has not notified of any decision to withdraw its Patriot systems in the southern Turkish province of Adana, the diplomat also said.
The United States announced on Aug. 16 that it had informed the Turkish government that the U.S. deployment of Patriot air and missile defense units in Turkey, which expires in October, will not be renewed.
“The U.S. will maintain in-theater capability to rapidly transport and support emergent Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) requirements, and is prepared to sustain the current deployment site in a cold-basing status to facilitate future deployments of U.S. Patriots. If needed, the United States is prepared to return Patriot assets and personnel to Turkey within one week,” Washington stated.
The announcement came one day after Germany also said it would pull its Patriot missile batteries from southern Turkey.
Pentagon officials sought to withdraw the units, give their troops more rest at home and focus on higher-priority threats from Iran and North Korea, the New York Times reported on Aug. 16. Turkish officials were livid when told two weeks ago that the U.S. was withdrawing the Patriots, the daily reported, quoting American officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Netherlands, one of the three countries that deployed Patriot missiles in southern Turkish provinces in 2013 as part of a NATO decision to boost Turkey’s air defenses against a potential Syrian missile attack, withdrew its Patriot missile batteries and the Dutch soldiers operating them in Adana province in 2014, saying it could no longer maintain them.
Spain replaced the Dutch Patriot unit that was removed from Turkey and sent 130 soldiers to operate the missile systems.
[hurriyetdailynews.com]
17/8/15
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Related:
US pulls Patriot-missile systems from Turkey
NATO says will protect Turkey against any spillover from Syria
US, Germany to pull Patriot missiles from Turkey....
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Bouclier antimissile turc: Ankara annule son appel d'offres de 4 mds USD...
ReplyDeleteLa Turquie a décidé de se doter d'un système de défense antimissile de fabrication nationale au lieu de confier sa construction à la Chine.
Les autorités turques ont annulé l'appel d'offres international de plusieurs milliards de dollars remporté en 2013 par la Chine et portant sur la création d'un bouclier antimissile en Turquie, a annoncé un porte-parole du premier ministre turc Ahmet Davutoglu.
"Nous avons décidé d'annuler l'appel d'offres. Le premier ministre a signé cette décision cette semaine", a indiqué le porte-parole cité par des médias.
Selon lui, Ankara a l'intention de "mettre en œuvre un projet national de création d'un système de défense antimissile".
Cette annonce survient alors que la Turquie accueille un sommet du G20 à Antalya..............Lire la suite: http://fr.sputniknews.com/international/20151115/1019542750/turquie-chine-missiles-antimissiles-otan.html#ixzz3raDrY5ZZ
15/11/15