Turkey took part in an extended NATO Air Policing mission in Romania to secure the eastern flank of Allied airspace.
In December, four Turkish F-16 fighter jets and 80 personnel arrived at Romania’s Fetesti Air Base to take part in the mission to secure the eastern flank of the NATO airspace. The mission officially ended on Wednesday.
Turkish Ambassador to Romania, Özgür Kıvanç Altan, Major General of the Turkish Air Force, Kemal Turan, and Major General of the Romanian Ministry of Defence, Dragos Iacob, attended the conclusion ceremony. The Romanian Ministry of Defence awarded a medal to a Turkish serviceman, Turkey’s Ministry of National Defence claimed.
Since 2014, Romania has hosted reinforced NATO air policing fighter units from eight allies, including Turkey, at its air bases near the Black Sea coast.
Air Policing is a peacetime mission aimed at maintaining the security of Allied airspace. As part of a wider range of security measures introduced following the 2014 transition of Crimea to Russia, allies are providing additional assets to strengthen air policing along NATO’s eastern borders, the report read.
