Türkiye deploys fighter jets to Romania for NATO mission

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Four Turkish F-16 fighter jets arrived in Romania to participate in NATO’s enhanced air policing mission, Turkish National Defense Ministry said.

A total of 71 personnel were also dispatched to Romania's 86th Borcea Airbase, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The mission will run through March 31, 2024.

"We thank the people of Romania for hosting and wish our heroic staff success in their duties," it added.

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 a part of the broad set of assurance measures introduced following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, allies are providing additional assets to enhance air policing along NATO’s eastern borders, it added.