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Turkey to develop unmanned tanks, president says

21 of February 2018

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, holding an olive branch arrives to deliver a speech at an event in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018. Erdogan said Turkish troops involved in the month-long offensive, codenamed 'Operation Olive Branch', to drive out Syrian Kurdish militiamen from a northwestern Syrian enclave will soon begin a siege of the city of Afrin. (Pool Photo via AP),Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, holding an olive branch arrives to deliver a speech at an event in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018. Erdogan said Turkish troops involved in the month-long offensive, codenamed 'Operation Olive Branch', to drive out Syrian Kurdish militiamen from a northwestern Syrian enclave will soon begin a siege of the city of Afrin. (Pool Photo via AP)

Turkey's president says the country will develop unmanned tanks to minimize risks to soldiers in combat. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced the plan during a speech delivered at conference on the country's five-year development plan.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s president says the country will develop unmanned tanks to minimize risks to soldiers in combat.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the plan Wednesday during a speech delivered at a conference on Turkey’s five-year development plan.

His comments came as Turkey’s military is carrying out a cross-border offensive in Syria to clear a border enclave of Syrian Kurdish rebels.

Erdogan said: “We need to be able to manufacture unmanned tanks and we will do this … We are becoming a country that is catching this technology.”

The Turkish leader said that U.S. refusal to provide Turkey with drones in the past had forced the country to develop and produce its own.