Patriots are on the way

Patriot missile defence systems demanded by Turkey from NATO against potential missile attacks from Syria departed from Germany and Netherlands. The Netherlands, Germany and the United States are each sending two Patriot missile batteries and up to 400 troops to Turkey after Ankara asked for NATO's help to bolster security along its 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria. U.S. troops and equipment have already begun arriving in Turkey. Patriots from U.S. arrived in Adana Incirlik Air Base with two giant planes. The Pentagon said on Friday the United States aimed to have its Patriots in place by mid-January. Lieutenant-Colonel Marcel Buis, who will command the Dutch missile unit in Turkey said the Dutch Patriots are expected to leave Eemshaven on Tuesday and arrive in Turkey around Jan. 22. He expected the Dutch Patriots to be operational by Jan. 26. An advance party of Dutch and German troops will fly to Turkey on Tuesday to prepare for the arrival of the Patriots with the main body of European soldiers arriving later. Dozens of camouflaged military trucks streamed out of an army base in the southern Netherlands on Monday carrying Patriot missiles to defend Turkey from what the Dutch defence chief called the real threat of missile attack from Syria. Five convoys totalling 160 vehicles ferried two Dutch Patriot missile batteries from an army base near Eindhoven to the port of Eemshaven, where they will be loaded onto a ship for a two-week voyage to Turkey. The Dutch Patriots will be stationed around Turkey's fourth largest city of Adana, which is 120 km (75 miles) from the Syrian border.