The troops arrived in the southeastern province of Gaziantep Thursday and planned to survey the site where the system was to be installed Friday, Today's Zaman reported.

The Syrian government had launched Scud missiles at its cities near the Turkish border, prompting Turkey to ask NATO for the missile batteries to defend itself against a possible attack by its neighbor, engaged in a civil war since March 2011. The United States, Germany and the Netherlands deployed Patriot air-defense missiles to the border region to intercept any Syrian ballistic missiles.