Turkey says NATO deploying more defences to guard southern base

March 18, 2026 5:10 AM EDT

Banners displaying the NATO logo are placed at the entrance of new NATO headquarters during the move to the new building, in Brussels, Belgium April 19, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman

ANKARA, March 18 (Reuters) - ‌NATO is ​deploying ​another U.S. Patriot missile defence system to the southern Turkish province of Adana, where ‌personnel from the United States and other ⁠countries are located in the Incirlik Air Base, Turkey's Defence ‌Ministry said on Wednesday.

Turkey, ‌which has NATO's second-largest army and neigbhbours Iran, said last week the alliance had deployed a ​Patriot system to its southeastern Malatya province, near a NATO radar base, as part of ⁠steps to boost air defences against missile threats from the Iran ​war.

Adana hosts Turkey's Incirlik Air Base, where personnel from the United States, Qatar, Spain, ​and Poland are located, as ‌well as Turkish troops.

"In addition to national-level measures taken to ensure the security ⁠of our airspace and our citizens, another Patriot system, commissioned by Allied Air Command in Ramstein/Germany, is being ⁠deployed in Adana, in addition to the existing Spanish Patriot ​system stationed there," the ministry said at a weekly briefing.

Turkey, an emerging leader in the global defence industry, lacks ‌its own fully fledged air defences despite development efforts, and has relied on ‌NATO air defences stationed in the eastern Mediterranean ⁠Sea to intercept three ‌missiles it says ​were fired from Iran since the war began.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan ‌Spicer)



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