The right move
August 17, 2015
This is one foreign mission that is well and truly over, to put it bluntly. The basis for the military deployment has crumbled much faster than expected. Since January 2013, the German army has had Patriot defense missile systems stationed in the southern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras. With them are 250 German soldiers to monitor the nearby border to Syria. Now, they're being called back, because essentially, there's nothing left to monitor.
Another more potent threat
NATO currently classifies the threat to Turkey of ballistic missiles from Syria as "very low." In other words, the military strategists in Brussels think it is unlikely that one of the warring parties in Syria will fire missiles at Turkey. That means the Patriot defense system in Kahramanmaras, designed to intercept such missiles, is no longer needed.
Germany and the United States, the main actors in this NATO mission, are preparing to withdraw. It's no longer Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's arsenal of missiles that has the region gripped with fear, but the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS). And they use very different weapons.
The fact that IS was able to become so strong is also partly due to Turkey's actions. Ankara long stayed out of the fight against the brutal terrorist group. When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government finally got involved, it did so with a surprising double punch. It used its offensive against IS to simultaneously strike out against another enemy, the Kurdish PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) - adding yet another front to the conflict in the region.
Signal to an unpredictable partner
In this tense situation, there is simply no reason for the Bundeswehr to remain in Kahramanmaras. The danger of being drawn into this domestic Turkish conflict is too great. The Patriot mission, which so far has passed without the need to intercept a single missile, was of very little use militarily. It was mostly a gesture of solidarity to NATO partner Turkey. It's the right move for Germany and the US to pull their soldiers out - and one that should give the Turkish government pause for thought.
Do you have something to say? Add your comments below.