Nato is to hold emergency talks on Tuesday to discuss the Turkey-Syria crisis over the shooting down of a Turkish F-4 jet by Syria.

Turkey turned to Nato saying Syria downed a fighter jet which was flying in international space. Turkey is expected to submit a formal report to its Nato allies to prepare for a response.

According to a Nato spokesperson, envoys from Nato nations will be meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

"Turkey has requested consultations under Article 4 of NATO's founding Washington Treaty. Under Article 4, any ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened," according to a Nato statement.

People familiar with matter say military intervention in Syria is unlikely. Surprisingly, Turkey did not raise Article 5 of Nato according to which, "an attack on one is an attack on us all."

The location of the plane's wreckage has been spotted by a search team, but the status of the missing pilots is still unknown. The Turkish foreign ministry said the wreckage was found at a depth of 1,300 metres in the Mediterranean Sea.

Search is still on for the missing pilots, but the foreign ministry declined to accept the search operation as a joint mission between Syria and Turkey.

Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish foreign minister, was quoted by the country's television channel as saying that the jet was on a training mission and not involved in any operation against Syria.

The Turkish foreign ministry received strong backing from the US administration also.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement: "The United States condemns this brazen and unacceptable act in the strongest possible terms. It is yet another reflection of the Syrian authorities' callous disregard for international norms, human life, and peace and security."

Clinton added that the Obama administration will extend its strong support to the Turkish government in the wake of this incident.

Turkish officials are also likely to raise the issue with the UN Security Council.

Syria has maintained that the shooting down of the plane was not an act of aggression but only an accident.

Hillary Clinton Syria Turkey NATO