Dutch (and German?) Patriots in Turkey
(BRUSSELS2) The Netherlands could send Patriot air defense batteries to Turkey as part of a NATO mission to defend this ally against missile attacks from Syria. " NATO is not designed to do nothing”, said the new Minister of Defense, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Sunday in Brussels on the eve of the EU Council of Ministers, as reported by my colleague Hans de Vreij on his blog. Turkey has not yet made a formal request. But it could specify and formalize its request this Monday during a meeting at NATO.
Germany and the Netherlands are the only ones to have a Patriot system (along with the USA); they had already been deployed in Turkey during the Gulf War in 1991 and 2003, to prevent attacks against Iraq. But the discussions are lively in Germany where the left opposition fears an escalation.
The Bundeswehr could engage 2 squadrons of Patriot, that is to say approximately 170 men according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. And as well as my colleague Wiegold specifies it, it could be the Group 21 of anti-aircraft missiles of Sanitz (FlaRakGrp 21) which could be assigned to this task; being assigned in support of the NRF 2012. A Dutch and American team has already visited Diyarbakir air base (in Turkey) to study the possible location for the Patriot batteries, according to the Turkish newspaper Milliyet.