Rutte Secretary General Assures NATO Will Always Defend Turkey

JAKARTA - Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Mark Rutte said on Wednesday, the alliance would do "whatever it takes to defend" its members, including Turkey, after intercepting four missiles fired from Iran and heading for Turkish airspace over the past few weeks.

NATO forces have shot down Iranian-fired ballistic missiles four times, prompting the alliance to deploy new Patriot missile batteries at Incirlik Air Base, southern Turkey.

"Iran spreads terror and chaos, and you feel it clearly here in Turkey," Rutte told reporters during a visit to Turkey's largest defense electronics company, Aselsan, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (23/4).

"In recent weeks, NATO has successfully intercepted ballistic missiles heading to Turkey from Iran on four separate occasions," he continued.

"NATO is ready to face such threats and will always do what is necessary to defend Turkey and all other countries. And we can't do it alone," said Secretary-General Rutte.

It is known that, as a member of the US-led defense alliance, Turkey, which borders Iran, has largely avoided retaliation from Tehran as experienced by countries in the Middle East before the ceasefire.

To note, Secretary General Rutte's visit was made ahead of the NATO leaders' summit to be held in Ankara in July.

On this occasion, the Secretary-General of NATO also met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Praising Turkey's progress in the field of defense, Secretary General Rutte said: "We can learn a lot from what Turkey is doing here."

"This is necessary because we live in a more dangerous world and that means we need strong defenses to protect our security," he continued.

"Turkey has experienced a defense industrial revolution. I can really say it is a revolution in recent years," said Secretary-General Rutte.