U.S. drones deployed in southern Turkish air base

The United States has deployed four Predator drones at an air base in southern Turkey, Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman reported on its website Friday. A total of four drones arrived at Incirlik Air Base on Oct. 16 and Oct. 23, which was several days before Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed a Turkey's request to purchase drones to be used in the fight against the terrorist Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) with U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Paris, the newspaper quoted a report of Taraf daily as saying. However, the deployment of the U.S. drones on Turkish territory is separate from Turkey's request to purchase drones from the United States, the report said. In September, the Washington Post reported that Turkey sought the deployment of a fleet of U.S. drones on its territory as a measure to be used against the PKK following the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Later in September, Erdogan said the United States has agreed in principle to Turkey's request to deploy its drones on Turkish soil. In addition to hosting U.S. drones on its soil, Turkey also seeks to buy its own armed drones from the United States, seeking to purchase MQ-9 Reapers, a larger and more modern version of the Predator, according to the report. The U.S. administration has also agreed to sell three attack helicopters to Turkey, which will reportedly replace those Turkey had lost in the fight against the PKK.