Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chair Özgür Özel, ministers, dignitaries and a large crowd attended the funeral prayers on Monday for two Turkish technical personnel who were killed during a helicopter crash in Qatar on Saturday.
Türkiye revealed on Sunday that Maj. Sinan Taştekin, as well as Süleyman Cemre Kahraman and Ismail Enes Can, technicians working for Turkish defense giant ASELSAN, were killed in the crash, along with four Qatari officers, identified as Capt. Mubarak Salem Daway al-Marri, Sgt. Fahad Hadi Ghanem al-Khayarin, Cpl. Mohammed Maher Mohammed and Capt. Saeed Nasser Sameekh. The helicopter operated by the Qatari army was on a training mission as part of the Qatar-Türkiye Joint Forces Command. The crash is attributed to a technical malfunction.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday expressed deep sorrow over the crash.
"I learned with great sorrow the news that our Turkish Armed Forces personnel, our ASELSAN staff and members of the Qatari Armed Forces were martyred in the helicopter crash that occurred in Qatar," Erdoğan said in a statement shared on social media.
The Turkish leader offered prayers and condolences for those who died in the tragic accident.
Erdoğan also expressed sympathy to both nations, saying: "My condolences to our country, our nation and the people of Qatar."
A separate funeral will be held on Tuesday for Taştekin, who will be buried in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), where his wife lives.
Gulf countries, along with Iraq, Jordan and Syria, offered their condolences Sunday to Türkiye and Qatar over the helicopter crash. In separate statements on the U.S. social media company X's platform, the foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan and Syria extended their condolences to the two nations and expressed their solidarity.
The incident came at a time when hostilities in the region have escalated since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28, with Iran retaliating with repeated drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and Gulf countries hosting U.S. military assets.
Türkiye and Qatar are among the closest allies in the wider region and Qatar-Türkiye Joint Forces Command is Türkiye’s first permanent military base abroad. The base is mainly used for military exercises, training and logistics support. Turkish media outlets have reported earlier that some 3,000 Turkish troops were stationed at the base, which was opened in 2017 and underwent expansion in 2019.
Two countries stepped up their military cooperation in 2011, after a landmark deal on defense industries, which was followed by the sale of Türkiye’s globally-renowned Bayraktar drones to the Gulf country. Indeed, the Bayraktars became the first unmanned aerial vehicles commissioned by the Qatari army. Mutual visits of Turkish and Qatari leaders further cemented cooperation and in 2014, the two countries signed a new military cooperation deal for the deployment of Qatari troops in Türkiye and vice versa, during a visit by Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. In 2015 and 2016, Türkiye and Qatar signed additional protocols for joint military exercises and training of military personnel. By 2017, Türkiye began deployment of troops in Qatar while major Turkish defense contractor Havelsan completed the sale of helicopter simulators to Qatar.
