'Claims that our air defense system is vulnerable do not reflect truth': Turkish Defense Ministry

By Utku Simsek and Busra Nur Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish Defense Ministry on Thursday denied any vulnerability of the country’s air defense systems after a drone was shot down over the Black Sea.

“The process was managed successfully and brought to a conclusion. Claims that our air defense system is vulnerable do not reflect the truth,” said the ministry.

"The UAV is assessed to be broken into very small pieces and scattered over a wide area. This makes it difficult to identify wreckage in a single piece or with structural integrity on the ground,” it added.

The ministry said that the control of Türkiye’s airspace “is ensured on a 24/7 basis through a layered and integrated architecture encompassing radar, early warning, electronic warfare, and interception elements.”

Amid the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, the ministry added, it had warned the relevant parties to act with greater caution to prevent incidents that could undermine security in the Black Sea.

A drone that was detected to have gone out of control while approaching Turkish airspace over the Black Sea was shot down, Türkiye's National Defense Ministry said on Monday.

An aerial object approaching Turkish airspace over the Black Sea was detected and monitored in accordance with established procedures, the ministry said in a statement on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

To ensure the security of national airspace, NATO-assigned and nationally controlled F-16 aircraft were assigned an alert response mission, it noted.

Following the assessment that the aerial object was a drone that had lost control, it "was shot down in a secure area outside residential zones in order to prevent any potential harm," the ministry added.