Ships carrying parts from Germany and Netherland docked Tuesday at Turkey's southeastern port of Iskenderun.

 

　　NATO allies are also sending hundreds of soldiers to operate these batteries of the missiles stationed along Turkey's southern border with Syria.

 

　　The batteries are expected to be operational by the end of January.

 

　　Ahmet Davutoglu was in Brussels meeting with Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders to discuss cooperation against militancy.

 

　　"We hope they will not be needed and we hope that the crisis in Syria will be overcome very soon and we will send Patriot missiles back home without any need of use. This clarification is important because this is purely a defensive action and we hope the Syrian crisis will be resolved soon."

 

　　Turkey and NATO say the missiles are for defensive purposes only, a claim that was denounced by the Syrian government as "provocation."

 

　　Both Russia and Iran have criticized NATO's decision, saying the Patriot deployment would intensify the conflict in Syria.

 

　　Russia has already started evacuating its citizens from Syria.

 

　　50 Russians have been flown home through Syria's neighbor Lebanon.

 

　　However, Russian officials said that the group left Syria for personal reasons and were not part of a full evacuation.