Missiles In Turkey To Protect Damascus

By DAVID BEDEIN, Middle East Correspondent

May 15, 2010

JERUSALEM – Turkey has stationed a battery of Hawk anti-aircraft missiles on
the border with Syria-this was reported by one of the major Turkish
newspapers. The report indicates that the goal of stationing the missiles is
to protect Turkey’s air space and prevent a possible attack by Israel on
Syria or Iran through its territory.

The newspaper quotes an anonymous military source as saying that the
missiles are intended to "protect Turkish air space, prevent other
violations of the space, and defend against possible American-Israeli
attacks on Iran and Syria."

The newspaper explicitly mentions the Israeli bombing that was staged,
according to foreign reports, against nuclear facilities in September 2007,
in violation of Turkish aerial sovereignty.

The missile battery has been stationed in southern Turkey, near the village
of Kale in the Iskandaron area, on the border with Syria. It should be noted
that Turkey voiced dissatisfaction after the bombing of the nuclear
facilities in Syria, saying that Israel should not have violated its air
space for the operation and that Turkey was "taking steps to ensure that
such cases would not recur in the future."

About a week ago, the Turkish foreign minister said in a lecture at the
University of Oxford in Britain that the Israeli-Turkish joint military
maneuvers had been suspended until progress could be seen in the peace
process with the Palestinians.