In the control room at Incirlik Air Base, images from the previous night show two red dots, indicating ballistic missiles fired in Syria. The two missiles originated in the Homs region, but both landed well clear of the Turkish border. So far, "Fireball" — the term used to indicate a ballistic missile heading their way — has not been heard yet in any of the command centers.

The current mission, which employs six batteries of Patriot missiles—two each manned by German, U.S. and Dutch troops—is limited to intercepting ballistic missiles heading to main Turkish population centers in the south. Yet a debate is growing about whether the Patriot mission should be expanded from a solely defensive role to include the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Syria’s north. NATO members, however, have not tabled a formal request to expand the mission.

The cage rattling in the media isn’t new; ever since NATO announced it would grant Turkey’s request for Patriot missiles back in November there has been a constant debate about why they have been installed. The suggestion that the Patriots are be used to extend a no-fly zone into Syria has been offered on multiple occasions.

But last week saw an especially high volume. The most recent calls have come from U.S. politicians, Syrian opposition leaders and a former U.N. official. Last week Sen. Carl Levin, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. John McCain asked that the Patriot missiles be used to enforce such a zone. Syrian opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib also said he had previously extended such a request to Secretary of State John Kerry during a speech at the Arab League summit in Qatar on March 27. Norwegian Gen. Robert Mood, the head of last year’s U.N. monitoring mission in Syria, is the latest to join the fray. He called for a no-fly zone and to “consider whether the Patriots in Turkey could have a role also in taking on some responsibility for the northern part of Syria," on the BBC on March 28.