Turks shot down by Syria found

The Turkish military said on Wednesday that it had located the bodies of two fighter pilots who were on board a jet shot down by Syria almost a fortnight ago.

"The bodies have been recovered in a seabed, and work is under way to bring them to surface," read a statement on the website for Turkey's army.

Turkey said after the incident that the jet was shot in international airspace after a brief and accidental incursion into Syria.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad disputes this; he has told a Turkish newspaper that he regrets his defense forces' downing of the jet, but also said that the plane was in Syrian airspace at the time and that his military did not know the fighter's nationality. Turkish officials disagree, saying the plane was unarmed, was not hiding its identity and was attacked without warning.

Both Syria and Turkey have said they do not want the incident to lead to an armed conflict, but nevertheless both have also sent troops to the border. Turkey deployed anti-aircraft weapons and missile batteries, vowing a harsh response to any future incursions. The Turkish air force also scrambled F-16 figther jets on three occasions in the past week after it spotted Syrian transport helicopters approaching the border.

The Turkish army named the deceased air force pilots as Capt. Gokhan Ertan and Lt. Hasan Huseyin Aksoy.

mkg/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)