Turkey downs drone on Syria border

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey’s air force on Sunday downed an unidentified drone on the Syrian border after it breached Turkish air space multiple times, the defense ministry said.

The drone detected near the border by the military intruded into Turkish airspace six times before it was finally shot down by F-16 jets.

“An unmanned aerial vehicle which violated our air space six times (on Saturday)… was downed by two of our F-16s which took off from Incirlik” air base in southern Turkey, the defense ministry said, sharing pictures of the downed drone on its official Twitter account.

The ministry said the unknown aircraft was grounded at 1:24 p.m. (1024 GMT) local time, adding: “The wreckage of the drone was found at the Cildiroba base” by the Turkish gendarmerie in the Kilis province near the Syrian border.

Turkey’s top national security council which brings together the country’s civilian and military leaders is due to meet on Monday led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Syria issue is expected to figure high on the agenda.

The Turkish air force shot down a Russian Su-24 aircraft in the Turkey-Syria border area in 2015, sparking an unprecedented crisis in the two countries’ relations.

That was condemned by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “stab in the back” but the two countries later reconciled and worked together on the Syrian crisis although they remain on opposite sides of the conflict.