U.S. pulling out Patriot missiles from Turkey

The United States on Friday started to withdraw its Patriot missile batteries from Turkey, despite Russia's weekend incursions into Ankara's airspace amid a deepening crisis in Syria.

The batteries, based in Turkey's southeastern province of Gaziantep, have been taken to the Turkish harbor of Iskenderun for shipping back to the United States, the Dogan news agency said.

The withdrawal came despite Ankara's appeal for its NATO allies to keep their Patriot missiles in the country, as Russia started air raids on Islamic State targets in Syria on Sept. 30 and Russian fighters breached Turkish airspace twice on Oct. 3 and 4.

The U.S. Patriots were stationed in Gaziantep in 2013 with 300 U.S. troops as a counter-defense against possible missile attacks from Syria. Germany and the Netherlands also deployed the missiles in Turkey.

The United States and Germany announced in August that they would withdraw their batteries, saying Syria no longer posed a serious threat to Turkey, a NATO ally.

The U.S. embassy in Ankara said in a statement earlier that the Patriots "will be redeployed to the United States for critical modernization upgrades."

The Netherlands pulled out its two batteries from the southern Turkish city of Adana early this year, but Spain filled the gap by providing two batteries.

Germany is set to withdraw its missiles next week. Endit