Turkey briefly detains American man for flying drone in restricted area in Diyarbakır
An American citizen was briefly detained by Turkish police for flying a drone in a restricted area in southeast Turkey. While the Pennsylvania resident said he didn't know the area was restricted and was filming the city walls, he was detained until Oct. 5, and forced to leave his phone and drone in police custody.
Duvar English
An American citizen was briefly detained in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır for flying a drone in a restricted area on Oct. 4.
Mark John Xenakes was revealed to be a resident of Pennsylvania, and to have worked for a military-contract aviation company for 14 years.
While Xenakes said he was a drone enthusiast and that he didn't know the Sur area was restricted, he noted that he was simply filming the ancient city walls.
He was released on Oct. 5 and a large-scale investigation was launched into the incident, forcing the American citizen to leave his phone and drone for police inspection.