NATO Chief Says Alliance Will Defend Turkey

Turkish police fire water cannon to disperse Syrian nationals who crossed the border after Syrian aircraft bombed a strategic border town on November 12.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the alliance "will do what it takes" to protect and defend alliance member Turkey.

Ankara is increasingly concerned about security along its border with Syria, in an area of the southeast where Ankara is also fighting a Kurdish insurgency.

Rasmussen told a NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Prague on November 12 that the alliance has "all plans in place to make sure" that Turkey can be defended.

Turkey says it is talking to its NATO allies about the possible deployment of Patriot surface-to-air missiles to guard against a spillover of Syria's conflict.

Meanwhile, a Syrian fighter jet bombed a rebel-held area near the Turkish border on November 12, killing at least six people, while a rocket-propelled grenade landed in Turkey.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP