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Turkish fighter jets that participated in NATO’s enhanced air policing mission in Romania completed their mission on Wednesday.
In December, four Turkish F-16 fighter jets and 80 personnel arrived at Romania’s Fetesti Air Base to take part in the mission, which officially ended on Wednesday.
Türkiye’s Ambassador to Romania Özgür Kıvanç Altan, Turkish Air Force Maj. Gen. Kemal Turan, Romanian Ministry of Defense Maj. Gen. Dragos Iacob participated in the ceremony. The Romanian Defense Ministry presented a medal to Turkish personnel, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Since 2014, Romania has hosted NATO-enhanced air policing of fighter detachments from eight allies, including Türkiye, at its air bases near the Black Sea coast.
Air policing is a peacetime mission that aims to preserve the security of alliance airspace. It is a collective task and involves the continuous presence of fighter aircraft and crews, which are ready to react quickly to possible airspace violations, according to NATO.
As part of a broad set of assurance measures introduced following Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014, allies are providing additional assets to enhance air policing along NATO’s eastern borders, it said.
Türkiye joined the military alliance of 29 North American and European countries in 1952 and boasts of having the second-largest army among member states after the United States.
Ankara attaches utmost importance to NATO’s role in maintaining security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.
