UPDATE 2 - 13 martyred in military helicopter crash in Turkey

ADDS REACTION

By Ekrem Payan and Sarp Ozer

SIRNAK, Turkey (AA) - Thirteen people were martyred Wednesday in a crash of a Cougar-type military helicopter in the southern province of Sirnak, according to the Turkish General Staff.

The crash occurred after hitting a high-voltage power line three minutes after take off, the province governor’s office said in a statement.

All 13 military personnel aboard perished in the crash, said the Turkish General Staff.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was informed about the accident and conveyed his condolence to Turkish Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar, who went to scene, according to presidential sources.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and his wife visited the family of Maj. Gen. Aydogan Aydin who was martyred in the crash. "May Allah rest their souls of our heroes who were martyred in this painful event that grieved us deeply,” he said in a statement.

Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu also arrived in Sirnak to examine the scene.

The leaders expressed their sympathies via their social media accounts.

“The sorrow of our hero martyred in the helicopter crashed have torn my heart out. May God rest their souls,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu wrote on his Twitter account.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus also took to the social media platform to offer his condolences to families of the martyrs. “May God rest their soul in peace,” he wrote.

Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu conveyed his condolences “to all Turkey,” by way of his Twitter account.