The Minister of Justice of Turkey, Bekir Bozdağ, confirmed that the Turkish pilots, who had downed a Russian air force plane in the year past, are among the military servicemen who are arrested on suspicion of the recent military coup attempt in Turkey.

Earlier, a Turkish military member had told foreign media that these pilots were arrested. 

In November 2015, the Turkish air force shot down a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft/interdictor nearby the Turkish-Syrian border. The warplane was taking part in the antiterrorism operations in Syria. This incident led to a strain in Russia-Turkey relations.

A group of military servicemen attempted a coup in Turkey, from late night on July 15 to early morning on July 16, but it failed. More than 260 people died during the ensuing clashes.