New NATO leader says alliance would defend Turkey if it was attacked

Reuters
New NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of Norway arrives to chair his first meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels October 1, 2014. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO must be very clear that it would come to Turkey's aid if Turkey was attacked, the alliance's new Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday. "Our responsibility, the basic responsibility, is to stand up and be very clear that we are going to protect Turkey, that collective defence, Article 5, is something which is also going to be applied if Turkey is in any way attacked," he told his first press conference at NATO's headquarters. Article 5 is NATO's key mutual self-defence clause. (Reporting by Adrian Croft; editing by Jan Strupczewski)