ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- German troops who will operate NATO 's Patriot air-defense systems deployed in Turkey arrived in the Turkish southern province of Adana on Sunday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
Nearly 240 German troops arrived at the Incirlik Air Base in Adana and will proceed to Kahramanmaras province where German Patriot batteries are deployed.
Under Turkish request from NATO, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands will respectively deploy two Patriot batteries in Turkey's southeastern region, aiming to boost Turkey's air defense capabilities from any airborne attack from neighboring Syria.
In June last year, Syria reportedly shot down a Turkish warplane in the Mediterranean Sea, killing two crew members.
Turkey and the three members of the alliance are having talks for drafting a memorandum of understanding that will outline responsibilities of the parties, including the costs of operating the systems.
Hundreds of German, Dutch and the U.S. military personnel will be deployed in southern Turkey to operate the Patriot systems and batteries will be deployed in Kahramanmaras, Adana and Gaziantep, respectively.
The U.S. military personnel and equipment have arrived last week at the Incirlik Air Base, and the German Patriot systems are expected to arrive in Turkey's Iskenderun port on Jan. 21 as well as the Dutch systems on Jan. 22 after a two-week sea voyage.
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