Turkey-Syria Standoff: Patriot Missiles Prepared, Kurdish Fighters on the Border!

• Turkey-Syria standoff: Patriot missiles prepared, Kurdish fighters on the border! 
  by http://rt.com/ 
  Syria has lashed out at Turkey’s “provocative” request to deploy NATO surface-to-air missiles on the countries’ shared border. The batteries may be installed in a matter of weeks, in a buildup that could further flare tensions in the turbulent zone.
  –
  Ankara has asked its NATO partners to station Patriot missile  batteries along its southern border, claiming they are needed to protect  Turkey’s national security. The system can shoot down aircraft and some  missiles at a range of up to 600 kilometers.
  –
  The region has seen  a number of episodes of cross-border mortar fire in recent months,  though Syrian warplanes and gunboats were never reported attacking  targets on Turkish territory.
  –
  The request was acknowledged by NATO  chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Thursday, who said that the possible  deployment of the missiles was “purely defensive,” and would “serve as a deterrent to possible enemies even thinking of attacks”.
  –
  But the Syrian government sharply criticized the plan on Friday. A ministerial source told Syrian state TV that the deployment would be “a provocative step,” and that Syria would hold Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan “responsible for the militarization of the situation on the Syrian-Turkish border and increased tensions.”
  –
  Iran voiced similar criticisms, and sent parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani to visit to Damascus this week in a gesture of support for Tehran’s ally. “The internal crisis in Syria cannot be solved through the deployment of such weapons,” Larijani said at a news conference in Beirut after his trip to Syria.
  –
  “The difference between us and the others when it comes to Syria is that the others want to impose democracy through weapons,” he added. “Iran cannot accept or support such a way.”
  –
  read more!

end