Rasmussen: NATO ready to defend Turkey if necessary

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen Tuesday stressed that Turkey can rely on NATO solidarity in its conflict with the Syrian regime. "We have all necessary plans in place to protect and defend Turkey if necessary. We hope it won't be necessary," he told a press conference ahead of a NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels. The NATO chief said Turkey has the right to defend herself within the international law and urged all parties involved to show restraint and avoid any escalation of the crisis. He commended the Turkish government for the restraint it has shown in its response to "the completely unacceptable Syrian attacks on Tturkey." Rasmussen, however, added that "the right way forward in Syria is a political solution". To achieve that a unified and strong message must be sent by the international community to the Syrian regime that it should accommodate the legitimate aspiration of the Syrian people, he noted. Rasmussen said the NATO defence ministers' meeting today and tomorrow will discuss progress "of our missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and how we can maintain our security in a time of economic austerity, including through cooperation on key defence capabilities. " "Afghanistan will top the agenda. This is a challenging mission - and we have faced some challenging months. The enemies of Afghanistan are trying to undermine the progress we have made in building security, and building the Afghan forces. But we will not let them succeed," he said. NATO, he stressed, remains committed to its goal and strategy, and to Afghanistan. "We remain committed to completing our ISAF mission at the end of 2014, as planned. And we remain committed to launching a new mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces after 2014," he added.