Share

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Chief Says Prepared to Send Troops to Defend Turkey ‘If Needed’

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that Russian Federation hadn’t supplied any actual explanation because of its breaches of Turkish airspace, which “continued for a very long time” and “failed to look to be an injury”.

Advertisement

8 that the alliance is ready to defend allies, including Turkey, against any threats, and discusses the need for extra help with the Turkish government.

“North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has already responded by increasing our capacity, our ability, our preparedness to deploy forces including to the south, including in Turkey,” he said, noting that Russia’s air and cruise missile strikes were “reasons for concern”.

And over the weekend, Russian jets flew into Turkish airspace in an incident that angered Ankara and led to warnings from Turkey’s allies.

American officials suggest the motive seems to be more about supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a close Moscow ally.

“We will assess the latest developments and their implications for the security of the alliance”, Stoltenberg said as he went into a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation defence ministers meeting dominated by the Syrian crisis.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence in Syria, said Russian airstrikes Wednesday hit Hama and neighboring Idlib provinces, with Syrian troops using surface-to-surface missiles in the area.

Syrian state media and regional pro-government channels made no mention of new Russian strikes or the ground attacks on Wednesday.

The head of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has slammed Russia’s “troubling escalation” of military activities in Syria, a day after Moscow launched cruise missiles as part of an intensified air campaign against Syrian rebels.

“I think that Russian Federation will not want to spoil relations with Turkey”, President Erdogan said.

Russian Federation launched its air campaign last month saying it would also target Islamic State.

The Russians insist they are targeting Islamic State (IS) extremists – also referred to as Isil – but Western powers say they have largely hit mainstream opposition forces. Iran has agreed to share intelligence with Russian Federation, along with Syria and-to the vast annoyance of USA leaders-Iraq.

But according to Washington, more than 90 percent of Russia’s strikes have targeted the moderate opposition. “We believe this is a fundamental mistake”, Carter told a press conference in Rome, referring to IS by an alternative name.

Advertisement

The United States has put forward various proposals, including simple safety protocols, such as maintaining a safe distance between USA and Russian aircraft and using common radio frequencies for distress calls, officials say, adding they would be similar to regulations found in civil aviation.

Vladimir Putin