Türkiye, Iraq 'in coordination' over downed drone

Türkiye is in coordination with Iraq to shed light on the crash of a Turkish-made combat drone in Kirkuk, according to a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

"Coordination has been established with Iraqi authorities to fully clarify all details of the incident," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said on Thursday, following a statement by Iraq's Joint Operations Command that said that a drone which had crashed in Kirkuk turned out to be Turkish-made.

The drone in question, Aksungur, is a domestically produced medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).

Keceli further stressed that Türkiye and Iraq have "an increasingly strong and common will in the fight against terrorism."

The spokesperson wrote on X that Iraq's designation of the PKK terrorist group as a "banned organisation" and the signing in Ankara of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on security, military and counterterrorism cooperation on August 15 are products of this approach.

Security coordination

Türkiye and Iraq are set to establish a joint security coordination centre in Baghdad and a joint training and cooperation centre in Bashika. The two centres will facilitate cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism, with a particular focus on countering the PKK.

Stressing Ankara's decisiveness in combating terrorism, Keceli pointed out that Türkiye continues to fight the terrorist organisation based in Iraqi territory per the principle of self-defence outlined in Article 51 of the UN Charter.

In its 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the US, and the EU – has killed more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

The PKK has relocated a sizeable portion of its activities to a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, which are around 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border. Turkish operations have nearly wiped out PKK's domestic presence, and now it operates from across the border.