Turkish fighter jet crashes near airport in Diyarbakir
A Turkish warplane has crashed near an airport in the country’s southeastern city of Diyarbakir, security sources say.
The sources said the incident occurred on Monday, adding that the pilot survived after he had safely ejected from the plane.
The Turkish F-16 warplane had left a military air base in Diyarbakir for a training flight when it fell shortly after take-off in a village nearby, according to Turkey's Dogan news agency.
Jets from the base regularly carry out airstrikes against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.
Dogan said the pilot was in "good health" but had been taken to hospital after the crash.
There were no immediate reports as to why the fighter jet crashed. The army said in a statement that an investigation had started into the cause of the crash.
Sources also said commercial flights to Diyarbakir were being rerouted to nearby airports following the incident.
Diyarbakir is a flashpoint for attacks by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group that has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region in the country's southeast since 1984.
Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale anti-PKK campaign in its southern border region over the past few months. The Turkish military has also been pounding the group’s positions in northern Iraq as well in breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.
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