Türkiye declares a day of national mourning for Iran's Raisi

Türkiye will observe a day of national mourning over the death of Iran's Ebrahim Raisi, the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said after his late counterpart perished in a helicopter crash.

"We have decided to declare one day of national mourning over President Raisi's passing," Erdogan said after a Cabinet meeting at the presidential complex in the capital, Ankara on Monday.

Noting Türkiye's role in search and rescue efforts for Raisi after news emerged that a helicopter he was on crashed in northwestern Iran, Erdogan said: "A Bayraktar Akinci UAV conducted 7.5 hours of search and scanning activities in the region despite the difficult weather conditions and flew a total of 2,100 kilometres (1,305 miles)," he added, referring to Türkiye's domestically manufactured unmanned aerial vehicle.

After Raisi's helicopter crashed, Türkiye's National Defence Ministry assigned the Akinci UAV and a Cougar-type helicopter with night vision capabilities to help in search activities.

Raisi was returning from the inauguration ceremony of a dam on the Iran-Azerbaijan border on Sunday when the crash took place, according to Iranian state broadcasters.

The crash also resulted in the deaths of Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, as well as that of Malik Rahmeti, the governor of East Azerbaijan province, and Imam Ayatollah Ali Hashim of Tabriz province.