AFP, Ankara

Nato chief Mark Rutte yesterday said the alliance would do “what’s necessary to defend” its members including Turkey after intercepting four missiles fired from Iran and heading into Turkish airspace over the past weeks.

A member of the US-led defence alliance, Turkey, which borders Iran, has been largely spared the sort of retaliation from Tehran suffered by countries in the Middle East before the ceasefire.

Nato forces had shot down ballistic missiles fired from Iran for four times, prompting the alliance to deploy a new Patriot missile battery at Incirlik air base in southern Turkey.

“Iran is spreading terror and chaos, and you feel this prominently here in Turkey,” Rutte told journalists on a visit to Turkey’s largest defence electronics company Aselsan.

“In recent weeks, Nato has successfully intercepted ballistic missiles heading to Turkey from Iran on four separate occasions,” he said.

“Nato is prepared for such threats and will always do what is necessary to defend Turkey and all others. And we cannot do it alone,” he added.

Rutte’s visit comes ahead of a July summit by Nato leaders to be held in Ankara.

Praising the progress made by Turkey in the defence field, Rutte said: “We can learn a lot from what Turkey is doing here”.

“This is needed because we live in a more dangerous world... and that means we need strong defences to protect our security”.

Rutte said: “Turkey has gone through a defence industrial revolution. I could really say it’s a revolution in recent years”.

The Nato chief is due to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has urged the US and Israel as well as Iran to stop fighting that has roiled the global economy.