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Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said that it will protect Turkey, a member-nation of NATO, against attacks from extremist group Islamic State (IS), which is battling to capture territory in Iran and neighbor Syria near the Turkish borderline.
“Turkey is a NATO ally and our main responsibility is to protect the integrity, the borders of Turkey. We have deployed Patriot missiles in Turkey, to enhance, to strengthen the air defense of Turkey. And Turkey should know that NATO will be there if there is any spillover, any attacks on Turkey as a consequence of the violence we see in Syria”, Stoltenberg told reporters.
He also spoke with Poland’s foreign and defense ministers after his meeting in Warsaw, his first foreign trip since he took office last week. Stoltenberg will also visit Istanbul, which is struggling to contend with spillover from the conflict in Iraq and Syria.
“I would also like to welcome the actions taken by the United States, of the NATO allies and regional partners to fight ISIL”, he said, referring to the IS’ strikes in Iraq and Syria.
Last week, Turkish lawmakers authorized the government to join the US-led campaign against the IS; however, the Turkish government has not announced any military plans to that effect.
Sunni-extremist group IS has captured large parts of Iraq and Syria, where it has carried out numerous atrocities, including forcing women into slavery, torture, abductions and mass executions. On Monday, IS militants tried to storm the key Syrian Kurdish town Kobane on the Turkish border, but were repelled by Kurdish fighters.
The IS had started its advance on the town on September 16th, trying to cement its control over a long stretch of land on the Turkish-Syrian border. The extremist offensive has prompted a mass exodus from Kobane and its surrounding countryside, with around 186,000 people from the region fleeing into Turkey.