Turkey 'downs' unidentified drone on Syria border

The drone detected near the Turkey-Syria border by the military violated Turkish airspace six times before it was finally shot down by F-16 jets.

The wreckage of the UAV was found by provincial gendarmerie forces near the Cildiroba base in Kilis.
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The wreckage of the UAV was found by provincial gendarmerie forces near the Cildiroba base in Kilis.

Turkey's air force on Sunday downed an unidentified drone on the Syrian border after it breached Turkish air space multiple times, the defence ministry said.

The drone detected near the border by the military intruded into Turkish airspace six times before it was finally shot down by F-16 jets.

"An unmanned aerial vehicle which violated our air space six times (on Saturday)... was downed by two of our F-16s which took off from Incirlik" air base in southern Turkey, the defence ministry said, sharing pictures of the downed drone on its official Twitter account.

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The ministry said the unknown aircraft was grounded at 1:24 pm local time (1024 GMT), adding: "The wreckage of the drone was found at the Cildiroba base" by the Turkish gendarmerie in the Kilis province near the Syrian border.

Turkey's top national security council which brings together the country's civilian and military leaders is due to meet on Monday led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

The Syria issue is expected to figure high on the agenda.

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