Russian drone violations of Turkish airspace are not accidental – expert
Sinan Ulgen, director of the leading Turkish analytical Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM), stated this in an interview with Ukrinform.
" I don't think these are accidental, because they started to happen suddenly, and not just one, but at least right now there are three or four confirmed sightings of these drones violating Turkish airspace. So, if it had been one, we could have talked about being accidental, but the timing and the frequency tell us that this is not accidental," Ulgen said.
He believes that Turkey should first of all warn Russia that such behavior is unacceptable. "Türkiye should also, in parallel, devise novel ways to potentially counter this sort of hybrid threat. Because right now, the traditional response of having a fighter jet use multi-million dollar ammunition to down a $5,000 or $10,000 drone does not make sense," Ulgen said.
According to him, Turkey needs a certain degree of creativity to develop its means of defense against drones.
As Ukrinform reported, in December the Turkish Air Force shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle over the Black Sea that was approaching Turkey's airspace. An F-16 fighter jet was used to destroy the UAV. Later, in northwestern Turkey, in Kocaeli province bordering Istanbul province, a Russian Orlan-10 drone was found. Subsequently, in western Turkey, in Balikesir province, an unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into a vacant lot.
Photo: Sinan Ulgen's personal archive
