Turkey’s Defence Ministry said on Friday that NATO forces shot down a ballistic missile launched from Iran after it entered Turkish airspace, marking the third such interception since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
“A ballistic munition launched from Iran and entering Turkish airspace was neutralised by NATO air and missile defence assets deployed in the eastern Mediterranean,” the ministry said in a statement.
Earlier on Friday, sirens were heard at Turkey’s southern Incirlik airbase, a key NATO facility hosting US troops, state news agency Anadolu reported. Residents of nearby Adana were woken at 3:25 a.m. (0025 GMT) by alarms, with many posting videos of a fast-moving object appearing to burn as it fell. Defence news site SavunmaSanayiST said the debris could be fragments of the intercepted missile or the interceptor itself, which typically burns up upon re-entering the atmosphere.
Sirens also sounded around 4:00 a.m. in Batman, reportedly near a military drone base adjacent to the city’s airport.
Turkish security officials told local media that Ankara is not a party to the Middle East conflict and is acting cautiously to avoid escalation. However, they emphasized that Turkey retains full capability to defend its territory and conduct “punitive” measures if necessary.
Monday’s missile incident had already prompted the US to close its consulate in Adana and advise American citizens to leave southeastern Turkey. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denied in a phone call to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that Iran had launched the missile.
Since the conflict began on February 28, Iran has carried out strikes across the region. NATO and US forces maintain a strategic presence in Turkey, including at Incirlik and the Kurecik base in Malatya, which hosts an early-warning radar system described by NATO as a “key element” of its missile shield capable of detecting Iranian launches.
On Tuesday, Turkey announced the deployment of a Patriot air-defence system in central Malatya, reinforcing NATO’s “alliance-wide ballistic missile defence posture.”
