Türkiye bolsters Baltic security with temporary AWACS plane deployment PHOTO

Türkiye has deployed an advanced airborne warning and control system (AWACS) radar plane to Lithuania, signalling NATO’s effort to strengthen defences in the Baltic region following repeated Russian airspace violations.

According to Turkish officials who requested anonymity because the information is not public, one AWACS aircraft, capable of detecting low-flying drones and other objects that ground radars often miss, arrived in Lithuania on September 22, as per Bloomberg.

The mission is scheduled to continue through September 25. The temporary deployment is intended as a gesture of solidarity with other NATO members. 

The move comes as NATO members seek to coordinate responses to Russian jets and drones entering their airspace, amid differing public statements from allied countries. On the evening of September 23, Germany cautioned against the risks of shooting down Russian aircraft, while US President Donald Trump simultaneously indicated openness to a more assertive stance, supported by Poland and the Baltic states.

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking to France 24 from New York on Wednesday, said NATO should “step up a notch” in the event of “new Russian provocations,” but he suggested the response should stop short of shooting down planes.

Estonia this week called for emergency meetings at NATO and the UN Security Council after three Russian fighter jets spent 12 minutes in the country’s airspace on September 19. The incident follows previous incursions, including Russian drones entering Poland and Romania, as well as military drones crossing into Lithuania from Belarus in July.

In response to these threats, Italy announced an extension of its anti-aircraft system deployment in Estonia, while Sweden and Poland are launching a military exercise, Gotland Sentry, to enhance the defence of the strategically important island in the Baltic Sea.

Russian military aircraft, including helicopters and transport planes, have occasionally strayed into NATO airspace over the years.

Experts view such incursions as symbolic demonstrations of disregard for NATO borders and, for former Soviet states such as Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as signals that Moscow does not fully recognise their sovereignty. The frequency of these incidents has increased since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

By Tamilla Hasanova