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Operation Active Fence is an active and ongoing
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two Nor ...
operation to protect the Turkish southern border region with
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
as part of the ongoing Syrian Civil War.


Background and Initial Operation

The
Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econom ...
was a wave of uprisings and protests in North Africa and the Middle East. The first disturbances were in December 2010 in Tunisia. However, in March 2011, when the Arab Spring reached Syria, the Syrian Civil war broke out. By December of 2011 this led to some of the first hostilities between Syrian government and rebel forces along the Turkish border, and the start of a series of long, protracted border clashes with Syria since then. By June 2012 this escalated to some of the first Turkish casualties of the conflict when one of its airplanes was shot down, and the Turkish government, as a member of NATO, invoked Article 4. This escalated further, and by October of the same year Syrian forces began shelling Turkish cities. Turkish officials considered activating Article 5 over these attacks, but instead attempted to de-escalate the situation, instead calling for another Article 4 convention, and asked the alliance for help to protect its airspace from possible missile attacks from Syria (which quickly evolved into protection from possible chemical attacks as well), to avoid a possible wider war. This mission request and scope followed previous precedence with
Operation Display Deterrence Operation Display Deterrence was a 65-day NATO operation to protect the Turkish border region with Iraq, made in response to an Article 4 declaration by the Turkish government in response to the Iraq War. Objectives and operational activity I ...
, and was accepted. Patriot missile batteries were deployed from NATO allies to Turkey.


Russian Entry into Syria and Suruç bombing

In the beginning of 2015, Dutch and German forces were planning to leave the region and be replaced by Italian and Spanish forces as it looked like the operation would wind down. However, despite earlier assurances by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, by the end of 2015,Louisa Loveluck, and Roland Oliphant
"Russia transporting militia groups fighting Islamic State to frontlines in Syria"
, Telegraph 17 Nov 2015
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
began backing Syrian forces; and together with the occurrence of the 2015 Suruç bombing, which it attributed to
ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
as part of the wider Turkish-ISIS conflict, Turkey re-invoked Article 4.telegraph.co.uk: "Turkey calls for emergency Nato meeting to discussIsil and PKK"
26 July 2015

27 July 2015
In response, an emergency meeting was called, and NATO extended the operation. Up until at least 2018, Patriot missiles were deployed solely to protect Turkish territory against any possible missile attacks from Syria. They were not used to support any no-fly zone, and were not used for any offensive action. There were several identified launches of rockets from within Syrian territory, but none of the missiles were aimed at Turkey or entered Turkish airspace to date, and the 173rd Airborne Brigade paratroopers secured NATO missile-defense sites


Balyun Airstrikes

In 2019, again NATO members looked to wind down operations, as Italian SAMP/T batteries left the region, and Spain discussed removing Patriot batteries from Incirlik. However, by 2020, the situation again suddenly further deteriorated further, involving Syrian and suspected Russian airstrikes on Turkish troops in Syria during the Northwestern Syrian Offensive already after a Russo-Turkish ceasefire failed to materialize. The Turkish government retaliated with
Operation Spring Shield Operation Spring Shield ( tr, Bahar Kalkanı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) against the Syrian Armed Forces and allied militias in the Idlib Governorate of northwestern Syria, whic ...
, threatening a direct war between Turkey and Russia. This rapid turn of events lead to another Article 4 meeting and further NATO support and expansion of the operation. Due to this, a direct meeting was held between Erdogan and Putin, a no-fly zone was established in the Idlib province, and Russian and Turkish forces entered into joint patrols, as part of an agreement to help de-escalate the situation.


See also

*
2012 Turkish F-4 Phantom shootdown On 22 June 2012, a Turkish McDonnell Douglas RF-4E Phantom II reconnaissance jet was intercepted and shot down by the Syrian Army in international airspace, after having violated Syrian airspace.2015 NATO emergency meeting * 2015 Suruç bombing *
2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named Operation Peace Spring ( tr, Barış Pınarı Harekâtı) by Turkey, was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian National Arm ...
*
2020 Balyun airstrikes On 27 February 2020, during the peak of Operation Dawn of Idlib 2, the Russian Air Force and Syrian Air Force conducted airstrikes against a Turkish Army convoy in Balyun, Idlib Governorate. According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ...
*
Ghouta chemical attack The Ghouta chemical attack, was a chemical attack carried out by the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in the early hours of 21 August 2013 in Ghouta, Syria during the Syrian civil war. Two opposition-controlled areas in the subur ...
*
Islamic State-related terrorist attacks in Turkey The IS-related terrorist attacks in Turkey refers to a series of attacks and clashes between Turkey and the Islamic State (IS) as part of the spillover of the Syrian Civil War. Turkey joined the international military intervention against the I ...
*
Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020) The 2019–2020 northwestern Syria offensive, codenamed "Dawn of Idlib 2," was a military operation launched by the armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and other allied militias against Syrian opposition and allied ...
*
Operation Display Deterrence Operation Display Deterrence was a 65-day NATO operation to protect the Turkish border region with Iraq, made in response to an Article 4 declaration by the Turkish government in response to the Iraq War. Objectives and operational activity I ...
*
Operation Olive Branch Operation Olive Branch ( tr, Zeytin Dalı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army (SNA) in the majority-Kurdish Afrin District of northwest Syria, against the People's Prot ...
*
Operation Euphrates Shield Operation Euphrates Shield ( tr, Fırat Kalkanı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in the Syrian Civil War which led to the Turkish occupation of northern Syria. Operations were carried out ...
* Syrian–Turkish border clashes during the Syrian civil war


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Active Fence Military operations involving NATO Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving Turkey