The Turkish pilot of a firefighting plane, who died on November 13 while performing his official duties in Croatia, and it later became clear that he had Bulgarian citizenship in addition to Turkish, was buried today in Istanbul, Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumakli announced on his Facebook profile, BTA reported.
Thirty-nine-year-old pilot Hasan Bahar was sent on his last journey as a hero and a mourning ceremony was held with the participation of uniformed officers and officials. Among them were Turkey's Agriculture Minister Ibrahim Yumakli, as well as MP and former Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.
“We sent Hasan Bahar to eternity, who passed away as a hero after a plane crash in Croatia. I remember with gratitude all our heroes who died heroically in the battle for the green homeland“, wrote Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumakli on his profile after expressing condolences to the relatives and honoring the memory of the pilot.
The incident occurred after two Turkish planes took off from Çanakkale to Zagreb to participate in extinguishing a fire in Croatia. During a flight from Rijeka Airport to Zagreb and a subsequent decision to return due to bad weather conditions, contact was lost with one of the planes. It was later confirmed that his remains were found near the town of Senj, Croatia.