Davutoğlu: Syrian regime's actions equal war crimes

Syria has seen a new rise in violence in recent weeks, including a government rocket attack on Wednesday, in a conflict that the UN says has killed more than 60,000 people.

Davutoğlu, along with Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and Family and Social Policy Minister Fatma Şahin, has been attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

Davutoğlu said on Wednesday that "Aleppo and many other cities are being bombarded by airplanes indiscriminately" and Turkey has so far hosted tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.

Commenting on NATO's decision to deploy Patriot anti-missile systems along the Turkish-Syrian border, Davutoğlu said that the deployment of the Patriots is defensive. “If a stable Syria emerges in the region tomorrow and any expected threat from the Syrian side disappears, Turkish troops together with military equipment of other alliance countries will be withdrawn the same day,” Davutoğlu said, adding no speculation should be allowed.

Davutoğlu's remarks came before a senior NATO officer said on Wednesday that the first NATO Patriot batteries being sent to defend Turkey from a possible Syrian attack are expected to be in place and ready for use this weekend.

The United States, Germany and the Netherlands are sending Patriot anti-missile systems after Ankara asked NATO for help to beef up its air defenses.

The Dutch army will be the first to have some of its Patriots in place and that is expected to happen this weekend, said British Brigadier-General Gary Deakin, a senior NATO officer.

All of the Patriot batteries are expected to be in place and operational by the end of January, he told a news briefing at NATO headquarters.

"We expect to have an initial operating capability this weekend, that is what we are aiming at. ... The first units will arrive on station, they will plug in to the NATO command and control network and they will be then ready to defend the population," Deakin said.

"The full capability we are aiming to deliver at the end of the month," he added.