Bulent Arinc, the deputy prime minister of Turkey, said investigators had established links between an intelligence agency of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the deadly car bombs.

The explosions which were set off near the municipality occurred on Saturday in a crowded area of the small town of Reyhanli in the southern Turkish province of Hatay, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria.

The blasts were likely caused by two cars filled with explosives, Interior Minister Muammer Guler told reporters after the attacks, but other reports indicated that there were three or more explosions.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the blasts are not a coincidence warning against provocations amid changes in neighboring Syria, Hurriyet daily reported.

“Such provocation can [come to mind] in such a critical transition phase regarding Syria. It is not a coincidence that this happened when diplomatic traffic is intensifying. We invite our citizens to be prudent. The incident will be investigated,” Davutoglu told reporters during his Germany visit.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon and John Kerry, the US secretary of state, both strongly condemned the bombings.

“This awful news strikes an especially personal note for all of us given how closely we work in partnership with Turkey, and how many times Turkey’s been a vital interlocutor at the center of my work as Secretary of State these last three months. Our thoughts are with the wounded and we extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” Kerry said.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the attack and expressed the hope that the perpetrators of the attack will be swiftly identified and brought to justice.

“The Secretary-General condemns all acts of terrorism and reiterates that no cause or grievance ever justifies the targeting of civilians,” the statement said, adding that Mr. Ban sends his deepest condolences to the victims and their families, as well as to the Turkish Government and people, and wishes those injured a speedy recovery,” a statement by his office said.

Davutoglu said onn state-run TRT TV the plane entered Syrian airspace on June 22, but quickly left when warned by Turkey noting that the fighter jet ”was hit when it was a distance of 13 miles from the Syrian coast”.

He added that the jet was on a training mission, and “not involved in any operation against Syria”. It was testing Turkey’s own radar and defence systems, he said, according to AP.

“The plane was not hiding its identity and could be seen by all,” Davutoglu said.

Syria said late on Saturday that they realized the plane belonged to Turkey after it was downed and that the aircraft had violated its airspace.

In a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday, Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s foreign minister,  hoped that the issue would be solved in light of prudence and dialogue. He hoped that peace and stability would be maintained in the region in light of peaceful settlement of the issue, according to a statement on the Iranian foreign ministry website. 

Earlier on Saturday, the Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, said it is not possible to ignore the fact that Syria shot down one of its fighter jets.

“When you take in to account the speeds at which jet planes travel over the sea, it is routine for planes to go in and out of borders,” he was quoted as saying by Anatolia.

“It is something that happens without bad intentions and that happens due to the high speeds.”

Gul confirmed yesterday that it had been in contact with Damascus and a search operation for the jet and missing pilots was under way.

Turkey has sided with nations such as the US in saying that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should step down after he responded violently to pro-democracy protests inspired by popular upheavals elsewhere in the Arab world.

Ankara has previously hinted the possibility of setting up some kind of humanitarian corridor inside Syria, which would require military intervention, but has said it would take no such action without UN Security Council approval.