Nato has plans to ‘defend’ Turkey

Nato ambassadors threw their support behind Turkey in an emergency meeting last week after Syrian shells struck a border town in Turkey killing five civilians.

The two neighbours have repeatedly exchanged fire since then, the most serious outbreak of cross-border violence since Syria’s revolt against President Bashar al-Assad erupted 18 months ago.

“We have all necessary plans in place to protect and defend Turkey if necessary,” Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters before a meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers in Brussels.

On Monday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said the “worst-case scenarios” were now playing out in Syria and that Turkey would do everything necessary to protect itself. Gul said that the violence in Turkey’s southern neighbour, where a revolt against Assad has evolved into a civil war that threatens to draw in regional powers, could not go on indefinitely.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday the escalation of the conflict along the Turkey-Syria border and the impact of the crisis on Lebanon were “extremely dangerous”.

The Turkish army fired back on Monday for a sixth day after a shell from Syria flew over the border and has bolstered its presence along the 900km frontier in recent days. Rasmussen commended the Turkish government for its restraint, saying he hoped the parties would avoid an escalation of the crisis.

“Obviously Turkey has a right to defend herself within international law,” he said. “I would add to that that obviously Turkey can rely on Nato solidarity.”
Turkey joined Nato in 1952.

Meanwhile, Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to make an atomic bomb within two to four months and then would need an additional eight to 10 months to build the device, experts said on Monday.

The authors of a new report on Iran’s nuclear programme say Tehran has made progress in its uranium enrichment effort but that the United States and UN weapons inspectors would be able to detect any attempt at a “breakout” — at least for the moment. — Reuters.