On March 18, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced that NATO was deploying another American Patriot missile defense system in the southern province of Adana. It is there, at the Incirlik air base, that units of the United States, Qatar, Spain, Poland and the Turkish military are stationed. reports Reuters.
Last week, Ankara had already announced the deployment of the Patriot complex in the southeastern province of Malatya, near the NATO radar base. The defense reinforcement comes amid the threat of missile strikes in the context of the war in Iran.
“In addition to measures at the national level to ensure the security of our airspace and citizens, another Patriot system, put into operation by the NATO Air Command in Ramstein (Germany), is being deployed in Adana, alongside the existing Spanish Patriot system already deployed there,” the ministry said during its weekly briefing.
The Turkish Defense Ministry also recalled that last week NATO forces intercepted an Iranian ballistic missile over the country. This is the third case of interception of a ballistic target launched from Iran over Turkey. This time the missile was shot down near a large urban center and an Alliance base.
