Patriots arrive in Turkey

HATAY – Anatolia News Agency

EPA Photo

Ships carrying Patriot air defense systems to be deployed in Turkey from the Netherlands and Germany docked at İskenderun Port in the southern province of Hatay.

The ship carrying the Patriots, Louise Russ, departed from the Netherlands and docked at Iskenderun Port. Another ship, Suecia Seaways, from Germany also arrived at the port on the morning of Jan. 21. The ship is carrying more than 130 containers as well as military vehicles. The systems will be deployed in Turkey as part of a NATO decision to support Turkey’s air defense against a missile threat from Syria.

“There are 300 vehicles, 100 containers and 400 soldiers on the ship. These will be sent to Kahramanmaraş and used in the event of a potential threat. We will not intervene in any clashes in the region. The Patriot defence systems are capable of hitting a target immediately in the air. The target will explode at the exact moment that it is hit and pieces of it will fall on the ground. As it is the latest technology, the harm it causes will remain at minimum,” said Col. Marcus Ellermann, the commander of the German Patriot Missile Defense System team.

NATO said last week the system should be operational by early February, perhaps sooner.