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.

According to Hurriyet Daily News, Yılmaz told the state-run Anatolia news agency that the public should believe "every piece of information provided by the Turkish Foreign Ministry" while stating "none of [the Al Arabiya claims] were 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 by Russia’s instructions before their bodies were planted next to their aircraft.