A Syrian pilot whose plane crashed in Turkey on Saturday said in an initial statement to Turkish authorities that his aircraft was shot down on its way to strike rural areas near Idlib, which is in northern Syria, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Sunday.
The Syrian airforce pilot who bailed out as his warplane crashed on Turkish territory was found by a Turkish rescue team and is being treated at a hospital in the Hatay region.
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Turkey rescues pilot of Syrian jet
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The 56-year-old pilot said his MIG 23 had taken off from Latakia in Syria.
The decision on whether or not to return the Syrian pilot who ejected into Turkey will be made following his treatment, a Turkish Cabinet Minister said on Sunday.
Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli spoke with reporters in the southern border province of Hatay, where a Syrian military jet crashed on Saturday. Mr. Canikli said the pilot had “a few” broken bones and was receiving treatment at a local hospital, but wasn’t in critical condition.
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The pilot was found in an exhausted state after a nine-hour overnight search and rescue operation in the rain.
Asked whether he would be returned to Syria, Mr. Canikli said “the decision will be made in the coming days” after the pilot’s duties and activities have been “clarified.”
Syrian helicopters were shot down for violating Turkish airspace in 2013 and 2015, and a Syrian MIG jet was shot down in 2014 for the same violation. A Russian military plane was similarly shot down by Turkey for violating airspace in 2015, leading to months of tension between Ankara and Moscow.
Syrian opposition military group Ahrar al-Sham said it had downed the plane.
Anadolu Agency said the search and rescue operation was over because the plane was a single-person aircraft.