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17 Turkish troops killed in helicopter crash.

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General Staff says helicopter that crashed well maintained

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Soldiers carry flag-covered coffins of 17 Turkish troops who were killed in a helicopter crash early Saturday in Siirt province, during a ceremony at a military air base in southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakır on Nov. 11, 2012. (Photo: AP)

12 November 2012 / TODAY'S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL

The General Staff said in a statement on Monday that a helicopter that crashed in southern Turkey on Saturday, killing 17 soldiers, was well maintained and was not subjected to any terror attacks.

The military body said the helicopter crashed due to adverse weather conditions and that the exact reason behind the accident will be known after a technical examination is completed.

The General Staff said it felt the need to clarify the incident and answer the allegations that appeared in the media. Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli said in a written statement in the aftermath of the accident that the possibility of a terrorist attack, negligence and recklessness of authorities should not be ignored while examining the reason for the helicopter crash. He indicated that another similar helicopter had also recently crashed.

The General Staff said the helicopter that crashed, a Sikorsky S-70, was produced in 2000 and purchased by Turkey in the same year. The helicopter model's flying time is 10,000 hours and the aircraft in question had logged a total of 1,845 hours. Among other similar helicopters owned by the General Staff, the one that had been used the most had flown a total of 3,700 hours.

“As with other aircraft, the helicopter that crashed was serviced regularly on the basis of the length of its flights,” the statement read.

The pilots of the aircraft were experienced and they had flown more than most of their colleagues.

The first and the second pilots of the helicopter, Anıl Barış Çetin and Yakup Çınar, had both served in the army in anti-terror operations, the statement noted, and added that on the day of the accident the helicopter had carried 13 gendarmes to a landing zone while the accident occurred during the second round of the mission.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday during the opening of a university in Rize that his government has been working determinedly against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and that sometimes undesirable accidents happen along the way.

“Suffering caused by the nature of this struggle may be experienced. By learning lessons from what is past, we have to continue our struggle with determination, taking measures and maximum precautions to make sure that accidents and unwanted results are not seen again,” he said.

The prime minister added that an administrative and legal investigation had been launched into the accident.

The Sikorsky helicopter crashed on Herekol Mountain in the Pervari region of Siirt province due to adverse weather conditions. Siirt Governor Ahmet Aydın said all of the soldiers onboard the helicopter were killed in the crash. Fourteen of the victims were members of gendarmerie special forces and the rest were helicopter staff, he said. The soldiers were being transported to a region near the Turkish border with Iraq to help troops in their fight against terrorists. Aydın said three officers, four noncommissioned officers, one special sergeant and nine privates were killed in the crash.

General Staff says helicopter that crashed well maintained

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AL-BAQARAH (2:154)

"And say not of those who are killed in God`s cause: "They are dead." Rather they are alive, but you are not aware."

May Allah be pleased with them (amin)
 
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I thought everybody knew the reason of the crash..

But Turkish media can be very disinformative, I wonder what BS conspiracy theories they have written.
 
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