NATO Chief Rasmussen: "We stand with Turkey"

"We stand with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters. "To anyone who would want to attack Turkey, we say, 'Don't even think about it!'" Fogh Rasmussen stressed that the deployment of the Patriot systems - which includes missiles, radar and other elements - wouldn't be a first step toward a no-fly zone over parts of Syria or any offensive operation against the Arab state. Rasmussen told reporters ahead of the foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels that the exact time of the deployment was not clear since a number of practical issues need to be sorted out beforehand. "Once the political decision has been made it will be followed by the practical deployment. When that will exactly happen will depend on a number of practical issues that will be sorted out in the near future," he said. "So I cannot give you an exact date, but I will tell you that the actual deployment will take place within weeks." Rasmussen also took the opportunity to repeat reassurances to Russia that the deployment is for defensive purposes only and not for the establishment of a de facto no-fly zone in Syria.