Ministry denies US plane's Türkiye takeoff in drone downing

ANKARA

Türkiye's Defense Ministry has rejected claims that the U.S. plane responsible for shooting down a Turkish drone in northern Syria last week had taken off from the United States' İncirlik military base in southern Adana city.

Instead, the aircraft in question departed from Jordan, daily Hürriyet quoted sources as saying.

The Pentagon issued a statement on Oct. 5, confirming that the U.S. military shot down an armed Turkish drone that came within 500 meters (546.8 yards) of American troops in northeastern Syria, in a rare use of force by one NATO member against another.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, called it a “regrettable incident” and said U.S. troops were forced to go to bunkers for safety as Türkiye bombed targets nearby.

Both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the new Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. CQ Brown, spoke with their Turkish counterparts, Yaşar Güler and Metin Gürak, quickly after the incident to emphasize the value they place on their relationship with Türkiye — but also the need to avoid any similar incidents in the future and ensure the safety of U.S. personnel.

On Oct. 9, Türkiye's Foreign Ministry attributed the drone's downing to discrepancies in the evaluation of what it referred to as a "de-escalation mechanism" in operation between the two nations. The ministry announced that necessary measures were being taken to ensure a more effective operation of this mechanism without providing further details.

"The incident did in no way affect the execution of the ongoing operation and the strikes against targets that were identified," the ministry declared.

The drone's downing coincided with Türkiye's airstrikes on PKK targets in Iraq and Syria following a suicide attack outside the Interior Ministry building in the Turkish capital Ankara on Oct. 1. The PKK claimed responsibility for the attack, during which one attacker detonated an explosive device, and another was killed in a shootout with police, resulting in injuries to two police officers.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan disclosed that the two assailants had infiltrated from Syria, where they received training. He further stated that PKK and YPG positions in Iraq and Syria were now considered legitimate "targets."

Following the drone incident, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken engaged in a phone call with Türkiye's top diplomat, during which Fidan asserted that "Türkiye's counter-terrorism operations in Iraq and Syria would persist with determination," a Turkish diplomatic source told AFP.

The two diplomats reached an agreement on de-escalating future conflicts in the region "in a manner that would not impede the fight against terrorism." U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller conveyed that Blinken "underscored the necessity of coordinating and deconflicting their activities" in the region.