Turkey in command of newly deployed Predator Drones

[Lankan Ranger]

Turkey in command of newly deployed Predator Drones

Ankara has claimed it will have sole responsibility for the routes and missions of four US Predator drones deployed to an air base in southeastern Turkey last month to help with efforts to track down and gather intelligence on Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists. The drones in Turkey will be operational after those in Iraq take off for their last mission on Nov. 22.

“In line with the US plan to pull out of Iraq, Predators will fly for the last time from Iraq on Nov. 22; from then onwards the four predators currently based in Turkey will be taking over surveillance missions,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying on Saturday.

The foreign minister’s words came following media reports that the US had deployed four drones in Turkey. He confirmed that two of the Predators were already based at İncirlik Air Base in Adana and would be taking up surveillance in a timely manner so as not to leave any gaps after US forces leave Iraq. “The data provided by those predators will be shared in real time by a unit in Turkey and the routes for the Predators will be determined solely by the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] and our military officials,” Davutoğlu said, brushing off speculation that the US might remain in charge of the drones’ operations after they are based in Turkey.

The foreign minister clarified it was Turkey that requested the continuation of drone surveillance after the US pullout as the country has greatly benefited from data obtained by the unmanned aerial vehicles in its fight against the PKK. Any gap in the gathering of intelligence by the drones could endanger Turkish forces, which often experience ambush attacks from the PKK. The timely deployment of the Predators before the US concludes its flights in Iraq is expected to enable the surveillance to go uninterrupted.

The four US drones arrived at İncirlik in late October, the Taraf daily reported on Friday, as it claimed that their deployment happened days before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed a request to purchase drones to be used in the fight against the PKK with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the recent G-20 summit in Paris.

The deployment of the US drones in Turkish territory is separate from the request to purchase drones from the US. In September The Washington Post reported that Turkey sought the deployment of a fleet of US drones in its territory as a measure against the PKK following the US withdrawal from Iraq. Later in September Erdoğan said the US had agreed in principle to the Turkish request to deploy its drones on Turkish soil. In addition to hosting the US drones Turkey also intends to buy its own armed drones from the US. Turkey is seeking to purchase MQ-9 Reapers, a larger and more modern version of the Predator.

Taraf reported that the drones would be used to monitor the PKK’s movements but they would not provide real-time data from their surveillance flights for Turkish authorities, and data from the drones’ flights would be sent to the US before reaching Turkish officials. Davutoğlu brushed off this claim by saying that Turkish personnel would be involved first-hand in the command of the flights and the intelligence gathered would be delivered to Turkish authorities without any delays.

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-262544-turkey-in-command-of-newly-deployed-predators-missions.html

 

[turkaholic]

So these drones are going to provide real time data or what? And what is this kind of like a rental? In return for what? I don't get it.

 

[Saithan]

US-deployed Predator drones at İncirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, which will be used as part of Turkey’s fight against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), completed their first test flights on Tuesday, at a time when Turkey is increasing its domestic production of homemade drones.


Two of the four Predators drones deployed on Nov. 14 at İncirlik Air base made their first test flights in Adana. The lift-off operation was carried out by the American staff of the Ground Control Unit at the base. The Predators were controlled by a center based in Nevada in the US during the whole flight. Images of the flight will be delivered to US military quarters in Ankara after initially being sent to the US.
12 new UAVs to be used in the fight against PKK terrorism

The UAVs are important in Turkey’s intensified fight against the PKK, which has stepped up its terrorist attacks against Turkish security forces, civilians and businesses in southeastern Turkey over the past six months. Turkey took an important step in its counterterrorism efforts with the intensification of the use of drones, including starting to manufacture drones domestically; 168 drones produced domestically are used by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) for surveillance activities.

The Turkish Kale Kalıp-Baykar joint venture, which won a contract to produce 12 UAVs from the Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM), has already completed production of the first drone. The TSK will start to employ this first UAV next week.

The vehicle, called Çaldıran, has capacities superior to other domestically manufactured UAVs currently in use by the TSK. Çaldıran has a firing range of 1,200 kilometers, can fly at an altitude of 22,000 feet, can stay in the air for 12 hours, has a nine-foot wingspan and has thermal cameras with advanced viewing capacity for night and day. The 11 remaining intelligence gathering vehicles will be delivered to the TSK in the next two years. The total cost of the contract is $24 million, TSK sources told Zaman.

Other UAVs previously produced by the same industrial group, which have a firing range of 15 kilometers and flying speed of 55 knots-per-hour, collect intelligence in southeastern Turkey at the moment.

Another domestic UAV, developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the Anka, will be used in operations against the PKK to locate terrorists and be ready to use in early 2012. With a 56-foot wingspan, the ability to fly at a speed of 75 knots-per-hour and capable of reaching an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,144 meters), the drone is expected to spy mostly on PKK militants who enter Turkey from bases in northern Iraq. The Anka is expected to replace Israeli-made Heron UAVs.
Israel sends technical staff for renovation of Heron UAVs

In a related development, Israel recently sent technical staff for the renovation of Heron unmanned air vehicles (UAV), which were sent by Israel last year, as a step to ease strained Israeli-Turkish relations since the Mavi Marmara crisis, which occurred after Israel refuse to apologize after its 2010 raid on the Turkish-owned aid ship in international waters, which resulted in the deaths of eight Turks and a Turkish-American.

Turkey purchased 10 Herons from Israel in a 2004 tender at a cost of about $183 million. Turkey has been using Israeli-made Heron drones in its fight against the PKK. However, the Herons received were not able to reach the altitudes indicated in the contract, and five of the Herons had engine-related problems. These five and at least two others that had other problems were sent to Israel for repair. However, there were significant delays in their return. In September, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan publicly complained about these delays. This, intelligence sources say, worked to speed up the delivery process, as Israel has recently returned all of the Herons. Israeli technical personnel in charge of renovating the craft left Turkey due to security reasons, following the diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel in September.

A technical team sent by Israel is now in Batman province of southeastern Turkey where Israeli-made Herons were deployed.

source: Predators complete test flight as Turkey produces more UAVs

 

[regular]

Yes! great for Turkey to be able to use these drones against the PKK terrorists trained and funded by the Israelis...however excellent work done by Turkey to corner/kill these evil money hungry pplz/terrorists......

 

[cabatli_53]

Predators in Turkey video...

WEB TV :: Hürriyet - PREDATORLER

 

[monitor]

US-Turkish Security Cooperation Deepens
Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 8 Issue: 206
November 8, 2011 04:08 PM Age: 16 days
By: Saban Kardas


US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Source: AP)

The US-Turkish bilateral relationship is entering a new period of cooperation. While part of the positive mood characterizing the relationship is attributable to the US-Turkish coordinated action in the context of the Arab Spring, the recent changes in Turkey’s threat perceptions have also played a role. Overall, although the rejuvenation of the partnership might be welcome news, the manner in which it has come about reflects an underlying weakness in US-Turkish ties, i.e., it is still characterized by a security-dominant discourse.

After many years of confrontation during the Bush Presidency, epitomized by Turkey’s resistance to US plans prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Turkish leaders welcomed the election of President Barack Obama (EDM, November 7, 2008). Although Obama’s call for a fresh approach to US foreign policy in the Middle East excited the Turks, both parties were often involved in disagreements and clashed over many issues. Turkey’s deteriorating relationship with Israel caused discomfort on the part of US policy makers, and the US policy of pursuing punitive measures against the Iranian nuclear program angered the Turkish government. The resulting frictions were not limited to the Middle East, as Turkey and the United States diverged on other issues, such as Turkey’s stalled rapprochement with Armenia or Turkey’s posturing in NATO.

In the wake of the Arab Spring, both parties increasingly coordinate their policies. Ankara and Washington have given up their initial silence and increasingly supported the popular uprisings in the region. On Egypt, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan maintained close dialogue with Obama, as he adopted a pro-democracy position and called for the end of Mubarak’s rule. Despite Erdogan’s initial criticism of NATO’s military intervention in Libya, Turkey later joined the coalition and became an ardent supporter of the opposition that eventually toppled Gaddafi. On Syria, Turkey, in line with the Western world, has advocated regime change, moving in the direction of imposing sanctions on the Baath regime (EDM, July 20, August 10).

The changing threat perceptions have also drawn the two countries together. For the US, the planned withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan make Turkey an indispensable partner in the region. As the entire region experiences a period of turmoil, with its constructive policies toward these war-torn countries, Ankara emerges as an element of stability that can help fill the security vacuum and safeguard some US interests. Turkey’s constructive attitude in Iraq has been known for some time, as it had helped contain the deepening of civil conflict and extended assistance to facilitate US withdrawal from the country. In the context of Afghanistan, Turkey has also actively worked to mobilize the regional and international actors for the reconstruction of this country, a goal the United States deeply appreciates. In this context, Turkey hosted the latest round of the trilateral summit in Istanbul in the first week of November, which brought together the Afghan and Pakistani presidents under the Turkish President’s watch (Anadolu Ajansi, November 3).

For Turkey, the primary motivation for reinvigorating the relationship is its immediate security concerns, which have been heightened in recent months. In response to the acceleration of the PKK’s terrorist campaign, Turkey’s military shortcomings in counter-terrorism increasingly underscore its ongoing dependence on the US for its defense procurement needs. Moreover, as the Middle East has been more volatile – characterized by a heightened risk environment – Turkey obviously needs a more solid anchor. These new conditions apparently resulted in Ankara reevaluating its ties with Washington, and abandoning its confrontational rhetoric, which resulted in a series of recent decisions.

Indeed, Turkey-US security cooperation has remarkably increased recently. The most visible indication for this policy shift came with Ankara’s decision to host the NATO early warning radars on its soil (EDM, September 20). Later, the United States committed to Turkey’s fight against the PKK, by agreeing to the basing of US unmanned Predator drones at Incirlik base to supply Turkey with actionable intelligence. Moreover, an interagency delegation led by US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Alexander Vershbow, to discuss how to improve the joint struggle against the PKK was another major development (Anadolu Ajansi, October 28).

Furthermore, Washington finally decided to sell three Super Cobra helicopters to Turkey, which Turkey had requested for some time in order to use against the PKK (ntvmsnbc anasayfa - Haber, Son Dakika, Hava Durumu, Ekonomi, Teknoloji, Bilim, Sa, October 30). The fact that the sale is unlikely to encounter opposition from the Senate, despite many lawmakers’ discomfort with Turkey’s harsh policy on Israel, has underscored how largely the administration’s views on Turkey is shared in the US policy community.

It was against this background that Turkey’s Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz, while attending the American-Turkish Council’s annual conference in Washington, argued that Turkey and the US are rediscovering each other and are going through a unique period (Anadolu Ajansi, November 2).

Despite this positive mood, however, the reinvigoration of the US-Turkish partnership in many ways resembles the dynamics of bilateral relations in the Cold War and early post-Cold War era, when security-related considerations formed the basis of the alliance. Various efforts to bolster the volume of economic ties and foster closer societal dialogue still continue but the prevalence of security issues is undeniable. It remains to be seen how sustainable this new cooperative phase is, especially if one factors in the possible change of administration following the US presidential elections. Even the current administration continues to accentuate the need for Turkey to mend ties with Israel, which currently remains uncertain and an element of instability in the Eastern Mediterranean. Nor is it clear if the efforts to pass a resolution in the US Congress on the genocide allegations might spoil the relations again, as the centennial of the 1915 events is approaching. But, at any rate, currently the United States acknowledges Turkey’s quest for a more autonomous foreign policy course in the Middle East, which it views as beneficial to US interests. Turkey, for its part, is aware of the US interests in the region and refrains from engaging unduly confrontation, as was the case in the Iranian nuclear issue.