Although the footage had already come to light, the TAF took a week to admit that a helicopter was downed by HPG members in Hakkari’s Çukurca district on May 13. Another significant point in the statement was that the TAF say the type of missile that downed the helicopter was yet to be determined.

The General Staff has issued a new statement on the Super Cobra type military helicopter that was downed by HPG members in Hakkari’s Çukurca district on May 13. The TAF had announced the helicopter had crashed due to a “technical malfunction”, but were forced to issue another statement after the footage released by HPG created a stir in the public.

The new statement accepts that the helicopter was downed by HPG members.

The TAF statement says, “The conclusion has been reached that while on duty, one helicopter might have been hit and downed by terrorists firing from the ground using an aerial defense weapon that is as yet unidentified but assessed to possibly be a missile, possibly fired from the ground into the air.”

The most significant point in the statement is that it claims the type of weapon “is as yet unidentified but assessed to possibly be a missile”, while there was public consensus that the weapon used in the related footage is the SA-7 missile, also called “MANPADS”.

HPG had released the footage that showed the helicopter being hit and crashing following the first TAF statement that claimed the helicopter had crashed due to technical malfunctioning. 2 helicopter pilots and 8 soldiers had died in the clash.