Turkey to return Israeli drones due to technical problems, reports say

Turkish military sources said Ankara purchased the drones four years ago to help the army fight the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members.

The Israeli regime has rejected repeated requests by Ankara to repair the aircraft.

Turkey says one of the drones crashed while operating on a mission in the southeast of the country and the other two have not been used over the past eight months due to technical problems.

The drones are stationed in Batman Air Base in southeastern Turkey and can reach a top speed of 100 km/h at an altitude of 5,400 meters.

The latest development comes amid reports that Turkish and Israeli officials have been engaged in secret ties since the Tel Aviv regime’s 2010 attack on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship that killed nine Turkish activists. Ankara-Tel Aviv relations soured following the deadly incident.