Turkey’s Interior Ministry confirmed on Friday the discovery of an unmanned aircraft of Russian origin in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, indicating that it is apparently a reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft, according to official sources. The authorities have launched an investigation to clarify the circumstances of the incident, which appears to be linked to the Russia-Ukraine war and growing tensions in the Black Sea.
In a statement, the ministry said the device – a Russian-made Orlan-10 – was found stationary in a field in the rural area of Çubuklubala in the İzmit district, where gendarmerie teams and forensic experts secured the area and began technical analysis of the device, which was used for reconnaissance and surveillance, while the investigation into the circumstances of the incident continues.
As reported by Turkish media, it was local residents who alerted the security forces after finding the wreckage of the aircraft, which caused no damage to people or property. A resident who witnessed the drone crash said he heard a noise at around 11:00 local time (09:00 CET) on Wednesday and watched the object fall to the ground, but did not go near it for fear that it might be dangerous or contain explosives. A few days later, he decided to notify the incident to the muhtar (village head), who in turn informed the authorities.
In June 2022, another similar incident occurred in the northern Turkish province of Gümüşhane, when again a Russian Orlan-10 drone crashed in the Kürtün district. On that occasion the wreckage was found by civilians in mountainous terrain and later collected by security forces, who sent it to Ankara for analysis. An exact cause of the crash was not determined, but it was believed that the drone lost signal and ended up out of control after being involved in operations in Ukraine or Syria.
The incident comes amid rising tensions in the Black Sea region, where a few days earlier Turkish F-16 fighter jets shot down another drone that Ankara said had lost control as it approached Turkish airspace. This new incident also comes on top of a series of recent Russian attacks on Turkish ships in Ukrainian ports that have put security in the Black Sea in jeopardy, threatening a new and dangerous escalation in the region and a breakdown in the hitherto positive relations between Russia and Turkey.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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