The NATO team which is expected to be in Turkey on Monday evening will take possible provocations from the Bashar al-Assad regime against the deployment of Patriot air defense missiles along the Syrian border and the Kurdish factor in Turkey's southern provinces into consideration while surveying possible sites for the deployment of the missiles, Today's Zaman reported.
In this regard, the missile system will unlikely be installed in Diyarbakır, where the majority of residents are Kurds, or the southern Hatay province, half of whose population is of the same sect as Syrian President Assad.
Security sources say that in the case of the deployment of the Patriot missiles in these provinces, it is highly likely that Assad's spies would agitate the local people against Turkey and the presence of NATO in the region.
Among the possible sites for the Patriot missiles, Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa appear ideal for the deployment of the surface-to-air missiles, the same sources stated.
Turkish military officials and the NATO team will jointly decide on the site. Sources say the NATO delegation will also analyze the psychological nature of the Assad regime.
Meanwhile, there will be a need for AWACS aircraft to detect any ballistic missile or enemy aircraft after the deployment of the Patriot missiles. NATO's decision on delivering AWACS to Turkey hinges on the inspection of the delegation and whether they would be necessary. A Western military official underlined that Turkey has very capable radar systems.
It is expected to deploy Patriot missiles 10 kilometers away from the Syrian border. The same sources said the Patriot missiles would be sent to Turkey in mid-December or towards the end of December. The system would be operational within a few weeks.