DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CARTER INSPECT MISSILE BATTERY IN SYRIA

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter speaks to troops on arrival on a Turkish army base at Gaziantep, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2013. Carter was there to see Patriot missile batteries installed with the help of U.S. forces to help deter potential incursions by Syrian forces. DOD photo By Glenn Fawcett.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Carter Visits Turkish Defense Leaders, U.S. Patriot Battery Troops
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2013 - On his first official visit to this prosperous capital as deputy defense secretary, Ashton B. Carter spent the day with Turkish defense leaders, then traveled southeast to Gaziantep near the Syrian border to examine the first of two U.S. Patriot missile batteries to be located there.

But Carter's first stop was the U.S. Embassy here on Atatürk Boulevard, where on Friday a suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint on the embassy's perimeter, killing Mustafa Akarsu, a guard in his forties and the father of two teenagers.

At the embassy today, Ambassador Frank Ricciardone ordered the American flag flown at half-staff until sunset on Wednesday, and the embassy operated on a reduced-manning schedule.

Those who did come to work to support the deputy secretary's planned visit observed a moment of silence at 1:13 p.m., exactly 72 hours after the bomb went off. The explosion blew out checkpoint windows, creating scattered debris, wounding several people and ending Akarsu's own life as he attempted to save the lives of his colleagues and friends.

Carter met with the ambassador this morning and walked the blast site. He then met with Akarsu's coworkers in the local guard force and with the embassy's seven Marine Corps guards. He also met -- in person and by telephone and digital video conference -- with about 45 embassy staff members from Ankara, Istanbul and the consulate in Adana, as well as with U.S. staff members from Turkey's Incirlik Air Base.

After the bombing, Carter told the embassy staff, "the ambassador called me and said, 'Do you still want to come?' And I said, 'One blankety-blank isn't going to stop us.'"

Carter said that later in the day he would visit the 80 or so Army troops manning and supporting the NATO-led U.S. deployment of two Patriot missile batteries at Gaziantep "because that ... stands for the strength of our alliance and the willingness of America to stand with Turkey at this moment of danger, when so many unsettled things are happening in Syria [that] pose a threat to the people of Turkey."

The deputy secretary added, "We stand with the people and the government of Turkey, and missile defense is just one way we are doing that."

This afternoon Carter began meeting with Turkish defense leaders.

At the Ministry of National Defense, he and Undersecretary of Defense for Industries Murad Bayar met and discussed three major U.S.-Turkey defense acquisition efforts.

Later, at the Ministry of National Defense, Carter met with Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz, and both made statements ahead of their discussion.

"This unfortunate incident [involving the death of Mustafa Akarsu] has again shown us that the new [era] is one in which cooperation between countries has become more important than ever," Yilmaz said, adding, "The fight against terrorism has great importance and calls for sustained cooperation."

In his remarks, Carter said he planned his trip to Turkey to discuss with Yilmaz and other leaders the military-to-military cooperation long shared by the United States and Turkey in ... counterterrorism, missile defense and every other area of cooperation."

For decades, he added, the United States "has been pleased and honored to be your partners ... [and] we thank the government of Turkey for everything it does to combat terrorism with us."

Later in the day, Carter traveled to a military facility in Gaziantep, just over 60 miles from Aleppo, Syria, where one U.S. Patriot battery is operational and another will be moved from nearby Incirlik as soon as the grounds at the base are prepared for its massive components and the troops required to operate the systems.

The Patriot missile system uses ground-based radar to find, identify and track incoming missile targets. The system can lock onto an incoming missile that's up to 50 miles away. The system can even be made to operate automatically.

Patriot missiles, each weighing nearly a ton, launch from ground-based batteries. A battery is made up of MIM-104 surface--to-air missiles; a launcher that holds, transports, aims and launches the missiles; an MPQ-53 or MPQ-65 radar antenna for detecting incoming missiles; an equipment van called an engagement control station that holds computers and consoles to control the battery; and power-plant truck with two 150-kilowatt generators that power the radar antenna and van. Each Patriot missile battery can have up to 16 launchers.

At the missile launch site, Carter spoke with about 18 soldiers -- men and women -- who operate the site, and then spoke with 80 more in a small theater near the battery site. They're assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, based on Fort Sill, Okla.

"I'm so pleased that two days ago you rolled all the way in from Incirlik with all this fantastic equipment," Carter told the troops.

"Your country is watching and the world is watching and what they see is this magnificent performance," he added. "The good people of Gaziantep see it and the good people of Turkey see it and the good people of the Middle East see it and your country sees it. And you know what? The bad guys see it too."

Carter told the young men and women that they're doing a significant thing.

"When you place your next call," the deputy secetary said, "whether it's to a spouse or your mom and dad, kids, if you have them, or good friends ... tell them that you were thanked today by the leadership of your department, the leadership of your country, for what you're doing here."

Tonight, after leaving Turkey, Carter will travel to Amman, Jordan, to meet on Tuesday with U.S. Embassy personnel and government and defense leaders. He'll also have lunch with troops to thank them for their service to the nation.

TURKEY WILL GET PATRIOT MISSILES

Photo:  Patriot Missile Launch System.  Credit:  U.S. Army.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

NATO Approves Turkey's Request for Patriot Missiles
By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2012 - NATO foreign ministers have agreed to Turkey's request for Patriot anti-missile batteries to defend the country against possible airstrikes from neighboring Syria.

The decision came during the first of two days of meetings at alliance headquarters in Brussels, with ministers saying the goal is to "defend the population and territory of Turkey and contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along the alliance's border."

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen described the situation along Turkey's southeast border with Syria as one of "grave concern," adding that NATO stands in full solidarity with Turkey.

The Patriot missiles are expected to be supplied by the United States, Germany and the Netherlands and would remain under the operational command of the alliance's supreme allied commander for Europe.

The decision comes as the civil war in Syria intensifies and amid new concerns in Washington over the status of the Syrian government's stocks of chemical and biological weapons. In recent weeks, Syrian rockets and shells have landed on the Turkish side of the border, killing several people, a development that Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has said raises concerns that the Syrian conflict could spill over into other countries in the region.

The Turkish government has supported Syria's opposition, and as an alliance member had requested that NATO provide the U.S.-built Patriot air defense system to deter further threats to its territory. NATO officials stress that use of the missiles will be purely defensive. Rasmussen emphasized that the system will in no way be used to support a no-fly zone over Syria, as some have proposed.

NATO's decision to approve Turkey's request comes a day after the United States said it was growing increasingly concerned that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime might be considering using its stocks of chemical weapons against its own people. Yesterday, President Barack Obama issued a direct warning to the Syrian leader that any use of chemical or biological weapons would be unacceptable.

"There will be consequences, and you will be held accountable," Obama said.

TURKEY'S REQUEST FOR PATRIOT MISSILE SUPPORT CONSIDERED BY U.S. AND UN

Photo:  Turkey/Syria Coast.  Credit:   U.S. CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

U.S., NATO Consider Turkey Request for Missile Support
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2012 - The U.S. will work closely with its NATO allies to determine the best way to respond to a recent request from Turkey for Patriot missile support, a defense official said today.

Turkey is seeking to deploy the Patriot missiles along its southeastern border in an effort to de-escalate crisis conditions due to the civil war in neighboring Syria, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement.

"The deployment would be defensive only," Rasmussen said. "It will in no way support a no-fly zone or any offensive operation."

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said in a Nov. 15 Voice of America interview that the U.S. was talking with Turkey about the threats to its security. "Turkey is obviously facing a difficult situation as refugees pour into their country and they're threatened by the instability in Syria," he said.

"They have asked that we work with them to try to see what we can do to give them some missile defense capability," he continued. "And we are working with them. And our hope is that we can help provide that kind of assistance."

"If approved, the deployment would be undertaken in accordance with NATO's standing air defense plan," Rasmussen said. "It is up to the individual NATO countries that have available Patriots -- Germany, the Netherlands and the United States -- to decide if they can provide them for deployment in Turkey and for how long."

"We will remain in close dialogue with our NATO allies as we work through this request for support. We take Turkey's concerns very seriously," the defense official said.