Ankara
Seven Turkish security personnel have died after their plane crashed into a mountain in the east of the country, state media reported on Thursday.
The reconnaissance plane crashed into Mount Artos, a dormant volcano in the province of Van, Anadolu news agency reported interior minister Suleyman Soylu as saying.
Communication with the aircraft – which was carrying two pilots and five “technical personnel” – had been lost at around 10.45 pm on Wednesday, he said, adding it had crashed at an altitude of 2,200 m. Soylu later arrived to inspect the scene of the crash, according to pictures posted on his Twitter account that showed him alongside military personnel in rugged terrain.
The 2015-model plane had been conducting “reconnaissance and surveillance” in Van and the predominantly-Kurdish Hakkari province since Monday, Anadolu said.
Hakkari province borders Iraq and has seen numerous clashes between Turkish forces and Kurdish militants during a decades-long insurgency.
Van provincial governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez paid tribute to the seven “heroes” on Twitter and sent condolences to their families.—AFP
