Turkey uses Israeli-made Heron unmanned aerial vehicles in its military operation against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists. (File photo)
A senior Turkish politician has called on the government for an immediate end to its intelligence cooperation with the United States and Israel, Press TV reports.
“Turkey’s reliance on Israel and the US for gathering intelligence in fight against the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) can create serious problems for Turkey,” Mustafa Yilmaz, the deputy leader of Turkey’s Felicity Party, said on Wednesday.
Yilmaz highlighted a recent botched airstrike in southeastern Turkey that killed 35 civilians as yet another proof that Ankara needs to develop its own defense and intelligence infrastructure and end reliance on Israel and the US in this regard.
“The question is that did Israel, or the intelligence it provided, mislead Turkey to carry out the airstrike? The issue should be closely reviewed,” he urged.
The remarks come amid Turkey’s military campaign against the Kurdish separatist militants of PKK which sees the Turkish army employ Israeli-made Heron and US-made Predator drones.
Yilmaz also called on Ankara to reconsider the list of its “strategic allies and partners,” that include the US and Israel. Washington and Tel Aviv are only after their own interests and do not respect the rights and borders of other countries, he noted.
The remarks come amid Turkish media reports that an Israeli spy drone was detected flying over a military zone in the southern province of Hatay in September.
The Heron drone has been reportedly hovering over the military command post for several hours in order to capture the pictures of radars and missile systems in the area.
After the aircraft was confirmed to be an Israeli drone, two Turkish F-16 fighter jets were scrambled from an airbase in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir to ward off the Israeli drone.
Turkish officials have not made any comment about the report.
MRS/JR
via PressTV – ‘Turkey must end US, Israel intel. coop’.
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