No evidence Turkish helicopter was shot down in Syria: Turkish PM

ISTANBUL

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Feb. 14 there is no evidence to prove that a Turkish attack helicopter which crashed in Syria’s northern district of Afrin on Feb. 10 went down as a result of external intervention.

Two Turkish Armed Forces personnel were killed when an attack helicopter crashed in Afrin during Turkey’s ongoing “Operation Olive Branch” on Feb. 10.

“Our accident investigation team has considered all possibilities regarding the helicopter crash, but they couldn’t find any evidence that it was shot down,” Yıldırım said.

Turkey on Jan. 20 launched “Operation Olive Branch” to clear People’s Protection Units (YPG) militants from Afrin. Ankara deems the YPG a terror group for its links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The Turkish military said on Feb. 14 that a total of 1,485 YPG militants have been “neutralized” since the launch of the operation.