HATAY
Commander of the German military unit for Patriot Systems, Marcus Ellermann on Monday said that there were 300 vehicles, 100 containers and 400 troops in the ship, "Suecia Seaways", which arrived in Iskenderun port of the southern province of Hatay. Speaking to reporters in Iskenderun on Monday, Marcus Ellermann stated that the ship left Germany 13 days ago and reached Iskenderun as planned. "The ship carries 300 vehicles, 100 containers and 400 troops. They will all go to the southern province of Kahramanmaras. They will be used only in case of a threat. It is out of question for them to be involved in clashes (with Syria). The Patriot defense system has the ability to shoot down any dangerous object in air. These are systems with state of the art technology," Ellermann underlined.
-Cost of the system-
Asked about the costs of the system, Ellermann said that "since this is a NATO operation, the costs would be covered by relevant countries." "The German Federal Parliament took a decision on the issue. Germany allocated 25 million euros for the Patriot systems," Ellermann noted.
-Major Alabacak-
Director of the Communications Office of the Turkish Air Force, Major Cengiz Alabacak said that the Patriots were brought to Turkey to support Turkey's air defense capability. The Patriot defense systems will be part of the NATO integrated air defense systems and Turkish officials will be present at all levels in the command and control of the systems," Major Alabacak stressed. The equipment and troops which came from Germany will be taken to Kahramanmaras very soon and the Patriot systems will be deployed there without wasting time, Alabacak noted.
Besides the ship "Suecia Seaways" from Germany, another ship "Louise Russ" carrying Patriots from the Netherlands docked at Iskenderun Port on Monday morning.
