Operation Active Fence

Operation Active Fence is an active and ongoing NATO operation to protect the Turkish southern border region with Syria as part of the ongoing Syrian Civil War.

The Arab Spring 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. This led to tensions with its northern neighbor of Turkey. The Turkish government, as a member of NATO, asked the alliance for help to protect its airspace from possible missile attacks from Syria, thus causing a possible wider war.

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. During the six-year deployment 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.

173rd Airborne Brigade paratroopers secure NATO missile-defense sites