Updated ATAK helicopter delivered to police forces
TURKEY’S General Directorate of Security received its first T129 Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack Helicopter (ATAK) with a ceremony held yesterday.
The upgraded version of the machine is currently in the inventory of Land Forces Command and the one delivered Thursday is also the new ATAK Phase-2 configuration, equipped with laser and radar warning systems.
“ATAK is the best-performing helicopter in high altitude,” Chairperson of the manufacturing company Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Temel Kotil said during the event, noting that its engine power is not impaired due to temperature or altitude: “Therefore it can provide efficient service in Turkey and near geography.” The TAI chairperson informed that two more ATAK helicopters are set to be delivered to the General Directorate of Security in March.
The head of the General Directorate of Security, Mehmet Aktaş, also speaking at the ceremony, said that with the delivery of the helicopter, the security directorate was provided for the first time with an armed reconnaissance and tactical surveillance helicopter.
Stating that Turkish police forces constantly update their power in the sky with new technologies to provide more advanced security services, Aktaş said, “With the increase in the number and quality of our aircraft that we add to our inventory, we gain more effective and rapid action not only in the fight against terrorism but also in all kinds of police operational activities, especially against narcotic crimes, organized crime organizations, in combating human trafficking and establishing traffic order.”
Defense Industries Presidency (SSB) Chairperson İsmail Demir said they are proud and happy to come together for the delivery of the helicopter that will add further strength to police forces.
Demir stated that the T-129 helicopters delivered to date have played an active role in security forces’ operations and that they worked as a force multiplier due to their capabilities while emphasizing, “Within the scope of the ATAK project, which is a very important milestone in the establishment of the helicopter industry infrastructure in our country, much national equipment and weapons systems are produced domestically.”
COUNTERTERRORISM police nabbed 14 terrorists, dismantling a Daesh sleeper cell in Turkey’s southern Adana province, reports said yesterday.
The police carried out the raid after the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued detention warrants for nine suspects who participated in Daesh activities in Iraq and Syria.
Five of the terrorists were Syrian nationals and the remaining four were Iraqis, İhlas News Agency (İHA) reported. The terrorists from Syria were identified as Ahmed Al M., 21; Muhammad Walid Al A., 24; Rabia O., 46; Ahmad Sh., 24 and his brother Muhammad Sh., 29. The Iraqis included Abdurrahman Raad B., 22; Sabet Tabban Mari M., 47; Abdurrahman H., 21 and his brother Ali H., 37.
They reportedly fought for Daesh in Afrin and Azaz. Muhammad Sh. was a so-called Daesh police officer, while Muhammad Walid Al A. was responsible for teaching Arabic to the terrorist group’s foreign fighters. Five of the suspects were arrested by the court and sent to jail, while four of them were released pending trial. In a separate operation, police nabbed five other suspects who vandalized 79 tombs, including those of police officers Ahmet and Mehmet Oruç, who were killed during the bloody coup attempt carried out by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) in 2016.
They were taken to the police station for testimony, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
Security forces also caught a Daesh terrorist redhanded as he was secretly observing a command post in Istanbul yesterday.
Police received a tipoff that a man had climbed up a tree and was spying on the Military Police Command Post in Istanbul’s Yenibosna district, Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported.
The suspect, identified as Muhammed Yahya E., was immediately detained. Police found Daeshlinked images and documents on the suspect, the report said. He was arrested and sent to jail after procedures, the report added.
Turkey recognized Daesh as a terrorist group in 2013, and has since been attacked numerous times, including 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings and four armed assaults, which have killed 315 people and injured hundreds more.
In response, Turkey launched military and police operations both inside and outside the country, capturing top Daesh members in counterterrorism efforts at home and in Syria.
The terrorist group has been trying to reestablish itself in Turkey after being dealt a heavy blow in Iraq and Syria. According to testimony by terrorists detained in previous operations in Adana province, Daesh had been trying to kidnap judges, prosecutors and tourist groups as ransom in return for Daesh terrorists held in Iraq and Syria.