Pentagon: Predators to be used in support of Turkey's fight against terrorism

WASHINGTON (A.A) - November 15, 2011 - The U.S. Department of Defense said on Monday that the predator drones, which were deployed to Turkey from Iraq, would be used for surveillance flights in support of Turkey's fight against terrorism. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters that with U.S. forces withdrawing from Iraq by the end of the year, the four American unmanned aircraft would be shifted from an air field in north of Iraq to the Incirlik air base in Turkey. "There is an agreement now to fly some of those ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) assets out of Incirlik at the request of the Turkish government," Kirby said. The robotic drones, which are unarmed, had been moved to Incirlik in the last couple of weeks, he said. The mission for the drones would remain the same, with only a change in the air field used by the planes, Kirby said. "This is to help provide ISR support to the Turkish military to deal with the specific threat posed by the PKK on their southern border," he noted.