(Source: Lithuanian Ministry of Defence; issued March 29, 2006)
On Friday, 31 March an official ceremony of replacement of contingents involved in the NATO leadership-sanctioned air-policing mission in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is due to take place at the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Siauliai, during which the Turkish Air Force will officially take over the mission from the Polish Air Force.
The ceremony will be attended by Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Gediminas Kirkilas, Undersecretary of the Polish Ministry of National Defence Stanislaw Koziej, Commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, Major General Valdas Tutkus, representative from the Turkish Air Force, Brigadier General Nejdat Bilgin, commanders of the Air Forces of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.