Turkish Defense Ministry denies Al Arabiya claims

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

DHA Photo

Turkish Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz has denied claims by Saudi Arabian news channel Al Arabiya that two Turkish pilots thought to have perished when their jet was shot down June 22 were actually murdered by Syrian intelligence, Anatolia news agency reported.
 
Yılmaz told the agency that the public should believe "every information given by the Turkish Foreign Ministry" while stating "none of [the Al Arabiya claims] were true."
 
"Public offices may give missing information, but will never give wrong information," Yılmaz said. "Every piece of information given by the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Chief of General Staff is true."
 
Yılmaz said authorities would soon release statements on the matter.
 
The pilots are believed to have died when Syria shot down their jet in the eastern Mediterranean, but Al Arabiya released what was claimed to be official Syrian documents showing that the pilots were rescued, interrogated and murdered on Russian instruction before their bodies were planted next to their aircraft.