Drone incidents in Turkey
President Erdoğan speaks of escalation in the Black Sea
12/20/2025 – 4:33 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
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Another suspected Russian drone was discovered in Turkey and had crashed south of Istanbul. Incidents of this kind are currently increasing. President Erdoğan warns.
Less than a day after a suspected Russian drone crashed in northwest Turkey, another drone has been found in the country, according to media reports. As several television channels and the newspaper “Cumhüriyet” reported on Saturday, the second drone was discovered in an open field near the city of Balikesir, southwest of Istanbul. Overall, this is the third drone incident in Turkey since the beginning of the week.
Turkish authorities did not initially comment on Saturday’s reports. The broadcasters Halk TV and Habertürk reported that the drone was taken to the capital Ankara for investigations. Local farmers told several media outlets that the drone apparently crashed days ago.
According to the Turkish government, a crashed drone was only found in the northwest of the country on Friday. According to initial findings, this is “a Russian-made Orlan-10 that is used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes,” explained the Interior Ministry. According to authorities, the damaged drone was discovered near the city of Izmit, around 30 kilometers from the Black Sea.
Only a few days earlier, according to Turkish information, a drone that had approached Turkish airspace from the Black Sea was shot down. After the drone was discovered, fighter jets were put on alert to ensure the security of Turkish airspace, the NATO defense ministry said. The drone got out of control and was shot down in a safe area. No further details about the origin of this drone were initially known.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned a week ago that the Black Sea could become a “zone of confrontation” between Russia and Ukraine.
