Patriot missiles moved to base, Polish and Turkish officers comment

Описание: (30 Jan 2013)
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Various of missile carrying truck disembarking US alliance Charleston ship
2. Pan across truck moving into Iskenderun naval base
3. Wide of ship docked at naval base
4. Wide of military personnel next to ship
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dariusz Kacperczyk, NATO Patriot Detachment spokesperson:
"We have just arrived to the port of Iskenderun, brought the US equipment. That is the last ship of the military equipment for the Patriot deployment to Turkey."
6. Mid of vehicle leaving ship
7. SOUNDBITE: (Turkish) Major Cengiz Alabacak, Turkish Air Force:
"The newly arrived system will be deployed at Gaziantep to reinforce our current anti-air defence system. All systems are expected to be operational by the middle of February."
8. Wide of people in street in Iskenderun
9. Close-up of news stand
10. SOUNDBITE: (Turkish) Mustafa Erden, Iskenderun citizen:
"First of all it is problematic not only to us, but also to our neighbours and countries around us like Russia, Iran, who we have natural gas deals with. This is the work of some malicious countries that are trying to interfere with the good relationships we have made."
11. Various of truck leaving ship naval base
STORYLINE
Two Patriot missile systems from the US arrived on Wednesday in southern Turkey to be deployed close to the Syrian border.
The equipment was transported on board the US alliance Charleston cargo ship and moved to the Iskenderun naval base.
Dariusz Kacperczyk, NATO Patriot Detachment spokesperson, confirmed it was last the shipment of military equipment required for the Patriot deployment in Turkey.
The US, Germany, and the Netherlands are providing two batteries each to protect Turkey, a NATO ally, from any possible incoming ballistic missiles from Syria, where a brutal civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
The German and Dutch systems have already arrived and most of the batteries are operational.
Major Cengiz Alabacak, of the Turkish Air Force, said the missile interceptor systems that arrived on Wednesday would be deployed at Gaziantep.
He expected all six systems to be operational by the middle of February.
NATO has reiterated that the Patriots are for defensive purposes only.
Syria has not fired any of its surface-to-surface missiles at Turkey during its nearly two-year civil war and its government has described the NATO deployment as a provocation.
One resident in Iskenderun said he was worried that the missile systems would be seen in a negative light, especially by Russia and Iran, which Turkey enjoys lucrative natural gas deals with.
"This is the work of some malicious countries that are trying to interfere with the good relationships we have made," said Mustafa Erden, a Iskenderun resident.
Turkey has become a harsh critic of the regime in Syria.


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