A Turkish military Sikorsky helicopter carrying soldiers on a mission against Kurdish terrorists crashed because of bad weather on Saturday, killing all 17 troops onboard, according to official statements.

Gaziantep \ NationalTurk – Thirteen soldiers and four military crewmembers were killed in the crash in a mountainous part of Pervari district in southeastern Siirt province where the Kurdish terrorists are located and are due to be terminated.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said the soldiers were on their way “to help their friends” in an operation against the rebels who have escalated attacks in recent months, adding the incident would not deter Turkey from its determination to fight the rebels.

The provincial governor, Ahmet Aydin, blamed the crash on heavy fog and ruled out an attack by the terrorists group.

“The weather during the transportation (of troops) was bad. There was extreme rain. The helicopter crashed into rocks because of the fog,” Aydin said in televised statements.

“The incident was the result of a crash and any kind of an attack is out of the question.”

Memebers of the Kurdish terror organization PKK  have been fighting since the 1980s and they seek more rights for Kurds, including autonomy in the mostly Kurdish southeast of the country.

Turkey and its Western allies categorize the vermin as a terrorist group. AP news agency thinks the vermin are rebels because of unkown reasons ( money, relations with terrorists ?)

Several days ago, Turkish media reported that Turkish soldiers were airlifted into northern Iraq for a brief operation against suspected terrorists, who have bases there.

There were no reports of casualties on that mission. Turkey periodically carries out artillery and air strikes on PKK positions in northern Iraq, but reports of cross-border incursions by troops are rare.

Turkish military lost several helicopters in 2012, though non are reported to be teken down by PKK terorists, the doubt remains in the eyes of Turkish public. The accidents are claimed to happen due to overuse of vehicles and metal fatigue!