Pallid Scops Owl
Garry et al.,
Not sure this will help any but,... I visited SE Turkey this year with Peter Alfrey and we saw a single Striated Scops on 9th June (I have stuck an awful photo at
www.gwentbirding.blogspot.com). We did have to locate this individual ourselves though, the cafe staff were unable to find any Striated Scops (adult or young), though a middle-aged bloke did seem to know roughly which trees they were supposed to be in (we found the bird close to where he was looking); the only owls the younger chaps pointed out were LEOs. BTW, the LEOs were roaming about the garden, we saw them on consecutive days, both near the fountain and in the far corner on the Euphrates side of the garden.
I am surprised you are having an identification dilemma though, on the 9th the LEO youngsters were well grown - if you saw a small owl on the 29th you saw a scops (of one flavour or another) if you saw a medium/large owl you saw a LEO. As pointed out already, Eurasian Scops could easily be present (though we didn't see any) so either way I think your "I will keep the tick on my list til (sic) someone can prove otherwise" might be a touch optimistic (though refreshingly candid).
Anyhoo, hope this helps,
Cheers,
Darryl
PS. Unfortunately, Peter didn't get any pics of the LEOs.
PPS. The traffic all over SE Turkey is definitely more life-threatening than the PKK, the only dead person we saw was in a totalled van.
PPPS. I'd take my family to Birecik, though they'd probably prefer a day out at Halfeti just up the river, much more picturesque and you can bag Pale Rock Sparrow, Cream-coloured Courser, etc., on the way
PPPPS. I'm not sure there is anything too wrong with the Collins Guide re young owls.