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ANKARA (Reuters) - 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.

The 56-year-old pilot said his MIG 23 had taken off from Latakia in Syria.