The announcement came one day after Germany also said it would pull its Patriot missile batteries from southern Turkey.
“The Patriots will be redeployed to the United States for critical modernization upgrades that will ensure the U.S. missile defense force remains capable of countering evolving global threats and protecting Allies and partners – including Turkey,” read a joint statement issued by the Turkish and U.S. governments.
“The United States and NATO are committed to supporting Turkey’s security and regional stability,” it added. “As the United States deploys additional air assets and partners with Turkey to counter [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] ISIL, the United States will also continue to work closely with Turkey on how to support Turkey’s air defense capabilities, including against ballistic missile risks and threats.”
The statement added that the U.S was ready to return Patriot assets within one week, if required.
"The United States 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." it read.
The statement noted that the U.S. Navy’s Aegis ships will remain in the eastern Mediterranean.
“These ships offer a range of capabilities to support the defense of Turkey and NATO missions, including support for NATO air and missile defense. U.S. Naval Forces in Europe will continue their close cooperation with the Turkish Navy in the region in support of Turkish defense needs,” the statement read.
It also stressed that the joint effort of two countries was aimed at "[reinforcing] Turkey's security."
"The United States and Turkey are consulting on possible other steps that we can take bilaterally to reinforce Turkey’s security," it read.
The announcement of the ending of the U.S. missile mission followed a similar decision by Germany.
- German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced on Aug. 15 that Berlin would let its three-year Patriot mission lapse in January, instead of seeking parliamentary approval to extend it.
Germany, the United States and the Netherlands all deployed Patriots in early 2013 after Turkey asked its fellow NATO partners for help in protecting its territory amid an escalating civil war in Syria. The Dutch ended their mission earlier this year and were replaced by the Spanish.
“The threat in this war-torn region has shifted in focus,” von der Leyen said in a statement on the German Defense Ministry’s website. “It now stems from the terror organization Islamic State. Therefore, we will remain engaged in the region in a continued effort to stabilize it.”
The decision follows criticism from some German officials of Turkey’s military crackdown against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent announcement that the peace process launched in 2012 was effectively at an end.
“The Erdoğan government has invested a great deal in reconciliation with the Kurds,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. “It can’t allow all the bridges that have been built up over the course of this process to be torn down.”
At the same time, Steinmeier warned against judging Turkey too quickly, noting that it was taking on more refugees from Syria and Iraq than any other country and coping with a major threat on its border from the civil war in Syria.
[hurriyetdailynews.com]
16/8/15
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Turkey and the United States said Sunday that Washington would withdraw its Patriot missile batteries from the country in October after bolstering Ankara's air defences against threats from Syria's civil war....
ReplyDeleteThe NATO mandate for the mission will run out in October and will not be renewed, but the US is prepared to return Patriot assets and personnel to Turkey within one week if needed, a joint Turkish-US statement said.
"They will be redeployed to the US for critical modernisation upgrades that will ensure the US missile defence force remains capable of countering evolving global threats and protecting Allies and partners, including Turkey," the statement said.
It also emphasised that Washington remains "committed to supporting Turkey's air defence capabilities, including against ballistic missile risks and threats... and its security and regional stability." ......AFP.........dailystar.com.lb
The Patriot air defense missiles provided by Spain will remain in Turkey unless NATO says otherwise, Spanish Defense Minister Pedro Morenes said Sunday...
ReplyDeleteMorenes’ statement comes after U.S. and Germany announced that they would end their contribution to NATO's Patriot anti-missile systems in southern Turkey by the beginning of 2016.
"Spain will continue its [Patriot] mission in Turkey as long as NATO asks," Morenes said, according to the La Razon, Spain's daily newspaper in its Sunday edition.
Spain decided in September to send Patriot air defense missiles to Turkey as part of its NATO obligations to replace units from the Netherlands which were being withdrawn, and naval ships carrying the missiles arrived at the port of Iskenderun in Turkey's southern province of Hatay on January 9.
Germany had deployed Patriot batteries in southern Kahramanmaras province since January 2013, as part of a NATO mission to counter possible threats from Syria.
aa.com.tr
23/8/15