Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday the cargo seized on a Syrian plane intercepted on its way from Moscow to Damascus carried military equipment and ammunition for the Syrian regime.

Erdogan said the cargo was "equipment and ammunition shipped to the Syrian Defense Ministry" from a Russian military supplier, in remarks televised by NTV news channel.

Russian President Vladmir Putin has postponed a scheduled visit to Turkey, his spokesman said Thursday, without specifying the reason for the delay or giving the original date for the trip.

"The visit has been postponed, the dates will be agreed upon," Dmitry Peskov told AFP.

Turkish state-run television TRT reported Thursday that a Syrian passenger plane intercepted by Turkey's air force was carrying military communications equipment, as Damascus branded the incident piracy amid growing tensions between the two countries.

Yeni Safak, a newspaper close to the Turkish government, reported there were 10 containers aboard the plane, some containing radio receivers, antennas and "equipment that are thought to be missile parts."

Syria has stopped purchasing electricity from neighboring Turkey, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Thursday, with an official stating the move was due to damage to Syrian infrastructure.

"Syria halted their power purchases from Turkey one week ago," Yildiz said, adding however that Turkey was ready to resume supplies if a request was received.

The United Arab Emirates could join a project to build Turkey's second nuclear power plant if South Korea is involved, Turkish energy minister said on Thursday.

"Officials from the United Arab Emirates said they could be a partner in the project if South Korea undertakes the building of the nuclear power plant plant," in northern Turkey, Taner Yildiz was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency.

Syria's main exiled opposition coalition the Syrian National Council will in a "matter of days" set up in a rebel-controlled area inside the country, a top member of the group said on Wednesday.

"Very soon, we will install ourselves in Syria, deep in Syrian territory. It's a matter of days," Jamal al-Ward, a SNC official in charge of relations with the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), told AFP.

Turkey's top military commander on Wednesday warned of a stronger response if Syrian shells continued to land on Turkish soil, the private NTV television network reported amid fears of a cross-border escalation of Syria's civil war.

"We have retaliated (for Syrian shelling) and if it continues, we'll respond more strongly," Armed forces chief of staff General Necdet Ozel said in Akcakale, a border town where five civilians were killed by Syrian shelling last week.

Turkey warned Syria again on Tuesday that it would not hesitate to retaliate for any strike on its soil as the country's top military commander visited troops stationed at the reinforced border.

"It has become inevitable for our armed forces to retaliate in kind... as the Syrian administration maintains its aggressive position," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned Tuesday against the dangers of the conflict in Syria escalating, saying alliance member Turkey had shown commendable restraint in response to shelling of its border area.

"I would like to commend the Turkish government for the restraint it has shown in its response to the completely unacceptable Syrian attacks," Rasmussen said as he went into a two-day NATO defense ministers meeting.

Turkey's top military commander General Necdet Ozel on Tuesday inspected troops in the southeastern Hatay province near the Syrian border, a day after a Syrian shell landed in a nearby town, local media reported.

Ozel inspected military units in the province and was expected to tour the border region, which has been shuttered over the past week with tanks and anti-aircraft missiles, reported the Anatolia news agency.