The search continued Saturday for a pair of missing Turkish pilots whose plane was shot down by Syrian artillery earlier in the week, even as violence gripping Syria left at least 25 dead, activists said, dpa reported.
As the Turkish and Syrian navies conducted the search for the pilots off the coast of Syria's Latakia province, Turkish President Abdullah Gul suggested Saturday that their military jet may have strayed into Syrian airspace, state news agency Anatolian reported.
Responding to questions, Gul said it was routine for warplanes at high speed to briefly cross borders, but there was no "ill intention."
Gul also said parts of the wreckage of the jet had been found, but the search for the two crew members continued.
Syria admitted late Friday that it had shot down the plane, while Turkey - a member of NATO - warned it would take "the necessary steps" in the wake of the incident.
The plane, according to Turkish officials, was not carrying any weapons and was a regular reconnaissance plane.
Turkey has been a vocal critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over his government's crackdown on a 15-month pro-democracy uprising. The incident is set to further sour already tense relations.
A former Syrian military official, now in Beirut, told dpa, if the Turkish plane has violated the airspace, the Syrian air force command should have sent a warning to the pilots before shooting the plane down.
The source said he had information that the troops that shot the plane thought it was a Syrian pilot defecting with his jet to Turkey.
A Syrian pilot Thursday defected with his plane to neighbouring Jordan, where he was granted political asylum.
Turkish officials urged citizens to be patient and assured them that the government was seeking a full explanation.
"The Turkish state is strong, with a little patience and understanding let's wait for the process to be completed," said Turkish Minister for EU Affairs Egemen Bagis.
Meanwhile, at least 25 people were killed by troops across Syria on Saturday, as the army continued its crackdown on rebel strongholds, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
In the central province of Homs, 10 civilians were killed by gunfire and shelling by government troops on al-Kussair, Khaldiyeh and Baba Amr districts, where troops have been attempting to regain their control from rebels for the past two weeks.
Others were killed in the central Hama province, in the southern province of Daraa, and in the eastern Deir al-Zour region, as well as areas at the outskirts of the capital Damascus, according to the London-based Observatory.
Meanwhile, the official news agency SANA said that al-Assad issued a decree to form a new cabinet under the current premier, Riad Hijab.
It added that, in the new cabinet, the current defence, interior and foreign ministers will maintain their portfolios.
Hijab, a former agriculture minister, was appointed by al-Assad as premier on June 6.