Turkey’s foreign minister on Friday denied that plans to purchase Patriot missiles from the US implied any threat from neighbouring countries, after media speculation linked the deal to the US decision to scrap missile defence bases in Eastern Europe.

“The missile purchase is not for fighting current threats from any country,” Ahmet Davutoglu, who champions a policy of “zero problems” with neighbours, told the broadcaster CNN Turk, adding it was simply part of a project to modernise the military.