Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not confirmed reports that a Turkish air force jet F-4 was shot down by Syrian forces.
“I’m not saying that the jet has been shot down (by Syria). We don’t have precise data yet,” Erdogan said at a news conference. The prime minister said he had no information that the Syrian side has already apologized for the incident.
Earlier the Turkish General Staff said that the F-4 took off from an airbase in Malatya in southeastern Turkey and disappeared from radar screens at about noon over the Mediterranean Sea near the border with Syria. Local media reported that both pilots were found alive at sea eight miles off the coast of Syria.
But Erdogan could not confirm that the pilots were found alive. He said a search for them is being carried out jointly with Syria.
“I do not have any information about the pilots,” he said.
