A second Patriot anti-aircraft missile system will be deployed in Turkey, announced the spokesman for the country's Defense Ministry, Rear Admiral Zeki Aktürk, quoted by the Turkish state television “TRT Haber“. This time it will be sent as reinforcement to Adana (southeastern Turkey). The system belongs to the allied forces in Germany, BTA reported.
“Along with the measures we are taking at the national level to ensure the security of citizens and our airspace, another Patriot system will be deployed in Adana, which was sent by the allied German Air Force. It will be deployed in addition to the current Patriot system, which has been deployed (since 2015) in Adana by Spain, the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Turkey said.
Spain deployed its Patriot air defense system in 2015 in the southern district of Adana to protect Turkish airspace from threats from Syria. Before Spain, Germany, the United States and the Netherlands also deployed Patriot systems in Turkey, but later withdrew them. In 2015, Spain replaced the Dutch contingent.
The additional measures come after NATO air and missile defense systems have already shot down three missiles fired from Iran towards Turkey that entered the country's airspace since the start of the conflict between Iran on the one hand and Israel and the United States on the other. The first incident was recorded on March 4, the second on March 9, and the third on March 13. A day after the second incident of the intercepted Iranian missile, NATO sent a Patriot anti-aircraft missile system as reinforcements. in Malatya district.
In an exclusive interview with the IHA news agency (IHA), Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bagai denied that Iran had fired missiles at Turkey, the "Türkiye Today" website reported, quoted by BTA.
In the interview, Bagai accused Washington of deliberately striking a girls' elementary school in the Iranian city of Minab with two "Tomahawk" missiles, which killed 175 children, and called on Ankara and the countries of the region to view the conflict as "a war against their shared identity and civilization".
"The claims that Iran fired missiles at Turkey or Azerbaijan are lies," Bagai stressed. "The Iranian armed forces are extremely precise in choosing targets. We are targeting American military bases and facilities used to attack Iran," he said.
"Iran has a natural right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter," the spokesman told the Turkish agency. According to him, Tehran has no intention of attacking neighboring countries. We will not attack any neighboring country, Bagai emphasized in the interview.