US says no formal request from NATO on deploying Patriot system in Turkey
US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland has said that they did not receive an official request from NATO on deploying Patriot system in Turkey's Syria border, Anadolu news agency reported.
On a question about deploying Patriot system in Turkey, Nuland
said that "Since the Article 4 consultation that we had in NATO
with Turkey at Turkey's request following the beginning of these
cross-border incidents, we have been working within NATO and with
Turkey to look at what other defensive support Turkey might
require" in the daily press conference.
She reminded that they have reinforced Turkey with Patriots in the
past.
Nuland added that they would await a formal request and then NATO would consider this issue. She stated "But we are obviously looking at the full range of things to ensure that Turkey remains safe and secure."
Nuland, on a question if that has to be through NATO, answered "No" and added that traditionally as a longtime NATO ally, Turkey seeks NATO support when it feels its security might be in peril.
Nuland said that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu did not talk on that specific issue recently but they are expected to talk soon not necessarily on this issue but on the full package of Syria issues.
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