NATO ‘Will Always Defend’ Türkiye, Says Rutte

NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Wednesday the alliance would do “what’s necessary to defend” its members including Türkiye after intercepting four missiles fired from Iran and head into Turkish air space over the past weeks. A member of the US-led defense alliance, Türkiye, which borders Iran, has been largely spared the sort of retaliation from Tehran suffered by countries in the Middle East before the ceasefire. NATO forces had shot down ballistic missiles fired from Iran for four times, prompting the alliance to deploy a new Patriot missile battery at Incirlik air base in southern Türkiye. “Iran is spreading terror and chaos, and you feel this prominently here in Türkiye,” Rutte told journalists on a visit to Türkiye’s largest defense electronics company Aselsan. “In recent weeks, NATO has successfully intercepted ballistic missiles heading to Türkiye from Iran on four separate occasions,” he said. “NATO is prepared for such threats and will always do what is necessary to defend Türkiye and all others. And we cannot do it alone,” he added. Rutte’s visit comes ahead of a July summit by NATO leaders to be held in Ankara. Praising the progress made by Türkiye in the defense field, Rutte said: “We can learn a lot from what Türkiye is doing here”. “This is needed because we live in a more dangerous world… and that means we need strong defenses to protect our security”. Rutte said: “Türkiye has gone through a defense industrial revolution. I could really say it’s a revolution in recent years.” The NATO chief is due to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.