Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today that a Turkish military helicopter was shot down in the southern province of Hatay in Syria during the "Olive Branch" operation, reports Anadolu Agency.
Erdogan said this at a meeting of his Justice and Development Party in Istanbul.
"The perpetrators will pay a high price for shooting down the Turkish helicopter," Erdogan said.
On January 20, Turkey and its Syrian allies launched an offensive on Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in northwestern Syria, citing the goal of clearing its border of Kurdish forces ruling in Afrin. The enclave is not controlled by the Syrian government, but by Kurdish forces that Turkey accuses of terrorism.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said today that two Turkish soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash in northern Syria, where the Turkish offensive against Kurdish fighters is underway.
"For now, we can confirm that one of the two Turkish military helicopters fell. Two people were killed. We have no knowledge that it was an intervention from outside," said Yildirim.
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