2021 Turkish Air Force Eurocopter AS532 Cougar crash
It was the fourth incident in Turkey involving the helicopter model, which have caused the deaths of 39 people, including two high-ranking military officers.The helicopter was en route to Tatvan in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish-populated Bitlis Province,[1] where the Turkish forces have been combating militants of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.[9] The Turkish military immediately launched a search and rescue mission, dispatching a party consisting of an unmanned aerial vehicle, a CASA/IPTN CN-235 transport aircraft, and a helicopter.[8] Turkish Ministry of National Defence conveyed its sympathies to their families, friends and country, calling the incident a "deeply saddening accident".Head of the European Union Delegation to Turkey, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, offered his sympathies for those affected by the crash, while the NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to extend his condolences.