Turkiye to observe day of national mourning for Iran's Raisi

Turkiye will observe a day of national mourning over the death of Iran's Ebrahim Raisi, the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after his late counterpart lost his life in a helicopter crash, Anadolu Agency reports.

"We have decided to declare one day of national mourning over President Raisi's passing," Erdogan said after a Cabinet meeting at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara.

Noting Türkiye's role in search and rescue efforts for Raisi after news emerged that a helicopter he was on crashed in northwestern Iran, Erdogan said:

"A Bayraktar Akinci UAV conducted 7.5 hours of search and scanning activities in the region despite the difficult weather conditions and flew a total of 2,100 kilometers (1,305 miles)," he added, referring to Turkiye's domestically manufactured unmanned aerial vehicle.

After Raisi's helicopter crashed, Turkiye's National Defense Ministry assigned the Akinci UAV and a Cougar-type helicopter with night vision capabilities to help in search activities.

Raisi was returning from the inauguration ceremony of a dam on the Iran-Azerbaijan border on Sunday when the crash took place, according to Iranian state broadcasters.

The crash also resulted in the deaths of Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, as well as that of Malik Rahmeti, the governor of East Azerbaijan province, and Imam Ayatollah Ali Hashim of Tabriz province.