Σύμφωνα με το REUTERS
το ΝΑΤΟ έχει εκπονήσει σχέδια υποστήριξης της Τουρκίας σε περίπτωση
πολεμικής εμπλοκής της με την Συρία. Όπως όλα δείχνουν η Τουρκία είναι η
χώρα που το ΝΑΤΟ επέλεξε να υπερασπιστεί τα συμφέροντά του στο θέμα της
Συρίας. Η απόφαση αυτή έχει και θερμούς υποστηρικτές αλλά και
πολέμιους. Σε κάθε περίπτωση το Ιράν, η Χεζμπολάχ, η Κίνα και η Ρωσία,
δεν θα ικανοποιηθούν και ιδιαιτέρως από την συγκεκριμένη απόφαση. Όπως
όλα δείχνουν η Τουρκία το προσεχές χρονικό διάστημα για ακόμη μια φορά
στην ιστορία της θα ξεκινήσει πολεμικές επιχειρήσεις γνωρίζοντας εκ των
προτέρων την ...κατάληξη! Μετά όμως;
GEOPOLITICS & DAILY NEWS
NATO aims to help defend Turkey if requested: U.S. official
(Reuters) - NATO has plans in place to defend Turkey against attack from Syria, and will aim to provide assistance if Ankara asks for it, senior officials said on Tuesday.
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 Neighbors 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.
A senior U.S. defense official said the alliance would likely react if Turkey made a request for assistance.
"The allies would have
to hear what Turkey says and decide what kind of assistance the alliance
should bring," he said. "We engage with Turkey to make sure that should
the time come where Turkey needs help we're able to do what we can."
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 neighbor, where a revolt against Assad has
evolved into a civil war that threatens to draw in regional powers,
could not go on indefinitely.
Turkey would have to
request military assistance under NATO's collective defense provisions,
known as Article 5 - in which an attack on one member is viewed as an
attack on all.
It has only been used
once before, after the September 11 attacks in 2001, and would involve
helping Turkey, not necessarily intervening in Syria.
The head of NATO,
confirming that the 28-member military alliance had plans in place to
defend Turkey, would not say what these were.
"Taking into account the
situation at our southeastern border, we have taken the steps necessary
to make sure that we have all plans in place to protect and defend
Turkey," Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters during a
meeting of the alliance's defense ministers in Brussels. "But I think
you understand why we can't go into details."
AVOID ESCALATION
U.N. 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 900-km (560-mile)
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."
He added that it would be surprising if NATO did not have plans to defend and protect all its allies.
Turkey joined NATO - which was set up to defend the territory of its allies - in 1952.
Russia,
which has blocked U.N. Security Council resolutions that would allow
greater western intervention in Syria, warned NATO not to intervene
after the Syrian shelling.
"We expect NATO not to
use this tragic incident as a pretext for interfering in the Syrian
conflict," Russia's Acting Permanent Representative to NATO Nikolay
Korchunov said in a written reply to questions from Reuters.
"Our only hope is that
this tragedy is not used as casus belli and won't be copied to provoke
unilateral reaction from Turkey," he said.
U.N. special envoy
Lakhdar Brahimi will visit Syria soon to try to persuade Bashar
al-Assad's government to call an immediate ceasefire, Ban said on
Tuesday. Efforts by Brahimi's predecessor, Kofi Annan, to engineer a
truce collapsed within days.
(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Alison Williams)
Source: REUTERS
