VARNA
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that unmanned aerial vehicles acted directly in accordance with the command by the Turkish army when he replied to a question on a news story by The Wall Street Journal claimed that US Predator provided intelligence regarding the incident in Uludere town of Turkey's southeastern province of Sirnak in which 34 citizens were killed by the jets of Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) on December 28, 2011.
Erdogan, who is visiting Bulgaria, met with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabir Al Thani gathered at Euxinograd Palace.
Replying to questions after the meeting, Erdogan said that the Turkish Armed Forces already made a statement responding to the news story of The Wall Street Journal.
Erdogan said that the step was taken (regarding Uludere incident) with Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles.
On Thursday, Turkish General Staff denied allegations which said the first footage was provided by a US Predator in the incident on Iraqi border that killed 34 people in 2011.
A statement posted on the website of the General Staff said that the first footage was by drones belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces in Uludere.
Some media organs published news stories based on a foreign newspaper claiming that the first footage was provided by US Predator in the incident in Uludere that took place on December 28, 2011, the statement said that these news stories were baseless.
Number of observers in Syria must be increased
Erdogan said on Friday the number of UN observers in Syria must be increased.
Erdogan, who is visiting Bulgaria, met with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabir Al Thani at Euxinograd Palace in Varna.
At a joint press conference, Erdogan said that as the three friendly countries, Turkey, Bulgaria and Qatar held a meeting and discussed the steps that would be taken jointly by them.
Erdogan said that officials from the three countries would come together next week to discuss highway projects.
Erdogan said that Syria was also discussed in his meeting with Borissov and Al Thani, stating that the three countries had similar views regarding the matter.
Unfortunately, the peace plan of UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Kofi Annan was not implemented in Syria, and the number of UN observers was not sufficient, he said. 2,000 or 3,000 observers were needed in Syria, he said.
Erdogan said they hoped that human tragedy would end in Syria.
Replying to a question on remarks by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against Turkey's support to opponents, Erdogan said that it was not possible for Turkey to be indifferent to what has happened in Syria. More than 10,000 people have been killed in Syria, he said.
Premier Erdogan said that they would continue supporting the Syrian people.
(Reporting by Kadir Karakus)
