The first two of three planes carrying 466 activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces has arrived in Istanbul from Israel, Turkey's deputy prime minister said Thursday.

The planes were also flying back the bodies of nine activists killed when Israeli commandos took control of the six aid vessels, Bulent Arinc told journalists at the airport.

Israel has identified four of the dead as Turkish nationals, but there has been no word as to the identity of the others.

Some of the newly arrived activists would be tested at an Istanbul forensics institute to check suspicions that they had been "intoxicated" by the Israelis, said Arinc.

A crowd of about a thousand people was gathered at the airport waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and shouting anti-Israeli slogans.

On Wednesday, three planes carrying activists wounded when Israeli forces stormed the ships - 18 Turkish nationals and one Irishman -  arrived in Turkey.

- AFP