Seventeen soldiers die in helicopter crash
Seventeen soldiers have been killed in a helicopter crash in Turkey’s southeast.
Turkey’s Channel 24 says the helicopter crashed in the district of Pervari in Siirt province today.
State-run TRT television says the crash happened in heavy fog in a mountainous area.
Authorities are investigating the cause. Kurdish rebels are active in the area.
The provincial governor, Ahmet Aydin, said 13 soldiers and four crewmembers were killed, according to Anadolu news agency.
State-run TRT television said the troops were conducting an operation against Kurdish rebels who have escalated attacks in recent months. The guerrillas have been fighting since the 1980s, and they seek more rights for Kurds, including autonomy in the mostly Kurdish southeast of the country. Turkey and the West categorise the rebels, known by the acronym PKK, as a terrorist group.
Several days ago, Turkish media reported that Turkish soldiers were airlifted into northern Iraq for a brief operation against suspected rebels, who have bases there. There were no reports of casualties on that mission. Turkey periodically carries out artillery and air strikes on PKK positions in northern Iraq, but reports of cross-border incursions by troops are rare.
