France 24, 04December, 2012  –Turkey asked NATO for the missiles in November after weeks of talks with allies about how to shore up security on its 900-km (560-mile) border. It has repeatedly scrambled fighter jets along the frontier and responded in kind to stray Syrian shells flying into its territory.
 
A major player in supporting Syria’s opposition and planning for the post-conflict era, Turkey is worried about Syria’s chemical weapons, the refugee crisis along its border, and what it says is Syrian support for Kurdish militants on its own soil.
 
Turkey made similar calls for military support during the two Gulf Wars, when NATO deployed surface-to-air missiles on its soil in 1991 and 2003.