The latest news in the Turkish media about the Turkish Air Force F4 which went down in the Mediterranean Sea about 8.6 NM from the Syrian coast in Syrian territorial waters is that it seems that the F4 wasn’t shot down by a Syria anti-aircraft missile and might not even have been shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft fire.
The two pilots’ bodies were found last week and it seems that they did not use their ejection seats. There was also no evidence that they had been wounded by any sort of explosion, but there is evidence that they died from the impact when the F4 hit the water.
The latest news is that no evidence of explosion or fire has been found on any of the pieces of the F4 which have been recovered. There is also reportedly no evidence on any of the wreckage of any anti-aircraft fire.
And the latest announcement by the Turkish military contains a very interesting phrase - “… our F4 which Syrian government officials claim to have shot down …”.
Phrases such as “… our F4 which the Syrians shot down …” or “our F4 which was shot down by the Syrians …” are not being used by the Turkish military anymore.