The Pentagon reported that on Thursday, the United States shot down an armed Turkish drone that was flying close to its forces in Syria. This was the first time Washington has taken down a Turkish aircraft, a NATO partner.
A representative of the Turkish defence ministry claimed that the drone that was shot down was not a possession of the Turkish armed forces but did not specify whose it was.
Following a bombing in Ankara the previous weekend, the National Intelligence Agency of Turkey carried out attacks against militant Kurdish targets in Syria, a Turkish security source claimed on Thursday.
Turkish military airstrikes on Thursday night destroyed 30 Kurdish terrorist targets in northern Syria, including an oil well, a storage facility, and shelters, and “neutralised” a large number of militants, according to the Turkish defence ministry.
Turkish drones were reportedly spotted conducting attacks near Hasakah, Syria, on Thursday morning, roughly a kilometre away from American forces, according to Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder. A Turkish drone was shot down by F-16 aircraft as it approached American troops at a distance of less than 0.5 kilometres (0.3 miles).
“We have no indication that the Turkey was intentionally targeting U.S. forces,” Ryder said while talking to reporters.
Northeastern Syria’s Hasakah is home to the mostly Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which lead the coalition led by the United States against the Islamic State, also known as Daesh.
Ryder reported that the conversation between the Turkish defence minister and US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, was “fruitful.”
On the social networking site X, the Turkish Defence Ministry said that its minister Yasar Guler had informed Austin that “Turkey is ready for a joint fight with the USA against Daesh. “Both Ministers emphasized the importance of close coordination of US and Turkish elements in activities carried out in the region.”
Relations between the United States and Turkey are tense at the present because of the United States’ desire for Turkey to approve Sweden’s accession to NATO.
Although the US has never shot down a Turkish aircraft, there have been near calls and heightened tensions. In 2019, Turkish outposts in northern Syria opened fire on US forces using artillery.
General Charles Q. Brown, the chairman of the American Joint Chiefs of Staff, called with his Turkish counterpart and emphasised “the need to follow common deconfliction protocols to ensure the safety of our personnel in Syria,” according to a statement from the American military.
According to US-allied Syrian Kurdish troops, since the bombing by Kurdish militants in Ankara, eight people have died in Turkish strikes.
As Turkey sees the Kurdish forces in northern Syria as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), US assistance for them has long been a source of friction. The incident that occurred near government buildings in Ankara on Sunday was claimed by that organisation.
