Germany will withdraw two Patriot missile-defense batteries and 250 soldiers deployed in south-eastern Turkey, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Saturday, Anadolu reported.
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The German army, known as the Bundeswehr, said on its website that the mandate for the mission would run out on January 31, 2016, and would not be renewed. Germany s Patriot missile system is based in the Turkish town of Kahramanmaras, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Syrian border.
Germany, the United States and the Netherlands all deployed Patriots in early 2013 after Turkey requested its fellow North Atlantic Treaty Organisation companions for assist in defending its territory amid an escalating civil warfare in Syria. The move comes after heated debate in German society over Turkey’s stance towards North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the West.
According to Gerhaltz, the recent threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are not a concern for Germany in deliberations about the termination of the Patriot deployment, as “the Patriots are in Turkey because of the threat maintained by the Assad regime”.
Many Germans oppose the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation mission, despite Ankara being a member state, viewing Turkey as not doing its part against the extremists.
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Weapons, including several assault rifles, at least one grenade launcher and petrol bombs, were found at the Haci Semsettin Yusma mosque in Nusabayin, a town on the Syrian border in Mardin province. A US official coordinating global efforts against ISIL said in remarks published on Thursday that Turkey will launch joint air strikes against ISIL with the US once military arrangements that are now being prepared are completed.
