U.S troops arrive in Turkey

U.S. troops arrive in Turkey; rebels battle for airport in Syria UPDATED: Jan 4, 2013 08:41 GMT U.S. troops arrived in Turkey on Friday to man Patriot missile defense batteries near the Syrian border, according to Turkish state media. Syria has previously launched Scud missiles at cities near the Turkish border in a desperate bid toextend its firepower. In response, the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands deployed Patriot air defense missiles to the border region to intercept any Syrian ballisticmissiles. The missiles and troops will be under the overall controlof NATO, but the missiles will be operated by U.S. forces A group of 27 U.S. troops landed in Gaziantep, Turkey, where they will survey the Patriot deployment, according to Turkish state news agency, Anadolu. U.S. officials did not release any information about the troops arrival, but had said last month that forces will bedeployed to Turkey. "We've made very clear to them that were going to protect countries in this region," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last month. "We have to act to do what we have to do to make sure that we defend ourselves and make sure that Turkey can defend itself." The fight for the helicopter airport Taftenaz airbase in northern Syria has been a deadly thorn in the side of rebels for months. For the third day Free Syrian Army fighters tried towrest control of the helicopter airbase from government forces