The Turkish president Abdullah al-Gul asked his Iranian counterpart Sheikh Hasan Rouhani to help release the two pilots abducted in Lebanon in a meeting held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York

The Turkish president Abdullah al-Gul asked his Iranian counterpart Sheikh Hasan Rouhani to help release the two pilots abducted in Lebanon in a meeting held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Iranian IRNA news agency reported.

"Ankara has already requested Iran’s assistance to resolve several issues and Tehran has accepted to help Ankara in certain cases," Gul told reporters Tuesday.

The pilots were kidnapped in August while on their way from Rafik Hariri International airport to a hotel in Beirut.

Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped in May 2012 in Syria's Aleppo province that borders Turkey as they were making their way back to Lebanon by land from visiting the holy shrines in Iran. Two of them have since been released, while the rest remain held in the town of Aazaz.

A previously unknown group calling itself Zuwwar Imam al-Rida has claimed the kidnapping of two Turkish Airlines pilots, demanding Ankara use its influence with Syria's opposition militant groups to secure the release of the abducted pilgrims.