NATO ready to defend Turkey against Syria

NATO is prepared to defend Turkey against Syria if the border conflict escalates, the intergovernmental military alliance's top official said. "We have all plans in place to protect and defend Turkey, but we do hope that it will not be necessary," Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at NATO headquarters in Brussels after a meeting of NATO defense ministers. "We do hope that all parties involved will do their utmost to avoid an escalation of the crisis and focus on finding a political solution to the conflict," Voice of America quoted Rasmussen as saying. The organization includes a system of collective defense, with the 28 member states agreeing to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. Turkey is a NATO member. The defense ministers did not discuss the Syrian crisis at the first day of a two-day meeting, Rasmussen told reporters. Over the past week, Syria and Turkey have exchanged artillery and mortar fire across Syria's northern border, which has been a crossing point for rebel fighters. The exchange of fire has raised political and diplomatic concerns the conflict will ignite a broader crisis in the region. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party Tuesday Ankara would continue retaliating for attacks from Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. "We shall never stop responding," he said as the cross-border artillery and mortar conflict was to enter its second week. Ankara deployed 25 additional F-16 jet fighters to Turkey's Diyarbakir Air Base in the southeast, the Hurriyet Daily News reported. Military Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel, along with other top military leaders, inspected troops and safety measures along the border with Syria Monday and Tuesday, the newspaper said. The Turkish Parliament last week gave the government the green light to use military force against Syria if necessary.