US Withdraws Patriots Despite Turkey's Appeal To Keep Them

A day after Ankara urged NATO to keep up Patriot defense systems in Turkey following Russian incursions into Turkish airspace over the weekend, the US began withdrawing its Patriot batteries from the country, on Friday, in line with its earlier announcement of pulling out on technical grounds -- for updating its systems -- and its assessment of the downgrading threat level from Syria.
Dozens of US trucks transported pieces of batteries and other systems to the port of İskenderun for shipment to the US on Friday.
While the US made the decision to withdraw its Patriot systems for mere technical reasons and due to the decreasing threats from Syria, imminent threats in northern Syria precipitated by Russian air strikes against rebel-held areas and the Russian violation of Turkish airspace twice over the weekend expose a troubling reality for Turkey.
Having lacked a genuine air defense system, Turkey solely relies on NATO's cover against any missile threat in its vicinity and several times over the course of the past two decades, Ankara has appealed to the alliance to deploy Patriots on its soil, first against Saddam Hussein's Iraq and then Bashar al-Assad's Syria.
It came after Turkey renewed its call to NATO and its allies to reinforce Turkey's air defense system as Russian airspace violations and the newly deployed missile systems in northern Syria created anxiety in Ankara.
On Thursday NATO Secretary-General John Stoltenberg said he was prepared to send troops to Turkey if needed.
"NATO is able and ready to defend all allies, including Turkey, against any threat," he said before a meeting of defense ministers of NATO members in Brussels on Thursday.
While intended to reassure its ally, the pledge did little to assuage Turkey's anxiety, which is now pondering its defense options.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said NATO-member Turkey is continuing talks with the alliance and its bilateral partners on enhancing its defense capabilities, including Patriot missile systems, but has not made a request for NATO to send military forces to Turkey.
The violation of Turkish airspace by two Russian jets last weekend brought the Syrian conflict across NATO's borders, but Bilgiç said that, as of yet, no Russian delegation had been sent to Ankara to provide information on the incursions.
Germany's defense minister said on Thursday that Berlin will also proceed with its plan to pull out Patriot batteries from Turkey and withdraw its personnel operating them before Christmas. Defending Germany's decision to withdraw Patriots as the right course of action, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said, "The question is what danger can be warded off in which way."
France and Italy appeared willing to replace the US and Germany to join Spain, but no decision has been made, Reuters was told on Thursday.
Spain's Defense Minister Pedro Morenes said this week that although he was concerned by Russia's incursion into Turkish airspace, his nation's Patriots were deployed to defend "against attacks with missiles coming from Syria."
"I think the withdrawal of the Patriot missile batteries is based on the decreased ballistic missile and chemical weapons threat from the Syrian regime. The PAC-3, while certainly capable of shooting down aircraft, is not really designed for the anti-aircraft role," Aaron Stein, a nuclear proliferation expert with the London-based Royal United Services Institute, told Today's Zaman.
"Turkey has the means to protect itself from Russian air incursions and the Spanish battery at Incirlik [Air Base], which is equipped with the PAC-2, is far better suited for the anti-air role than the German and American PAC-3s," he said in a comment on the US's withdrawal of Patriots.
Turkey anxious after Patriots pullout

For Stein, the Turkish Air Force, operating its round-the-clock combat air patrols along the border, provides security against incursions to its air space.
While Turkey's potent and formidable air force appears as a strong instrument for the protection of its skies, it remains the only tool, apart from the Spanish batteries, after the US and German withdrawal of Patriots.
Turkey only has old-technology Nike Hercules missiles in its arsenal against missile threats and many experts have serious doubts about their operational capability.
That leaves the Turkish military relying heavily on its air force to deter any warplane that could intrude Turkish air space along its long Syrian border. To that point, the air force intensified its patrolling flights.
While the US insists that the Syrian regime is no longer capable of threatening Turkey with its depleted Scud missiles, Ankara splits with its ally on that assessment and thinks that the threat still exists.
The Russian intervention also exposed the urgent need for an air defense system as Turkey still ponders the purchase of a long-range missile system in that regard.
Turkey's talks with China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CPMIEC), which was sanctioned by the US for its arms sale to Iran several years ago, have not been completed as Ankara is now dragging its feet in the deal with China after facing severe criticism from its NATO allies. NATO adamantly opposes Turkey's deal with a non-NATO country on the grounds that it may have access to NATO systems.
Although former Turkish Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz said earlier this year that the Chinese missile system will not be integrated into the NATO system, it failed to convince Ankara's allies.
The lingering uncertainty, after the two years that have passed from Turkey's tender, only leaves Turkey vulnerable against missile threats amid fast-moving developments and a complex war in Syria that poses fresh threats to Turkish security.

EMRE SONCAN / ABDULLAH AYASUN / ANKARA (Cihan/Today's Zaman)