Share

Turkey to deliver body of Russian pilot to Moscow

Russian Federation insists that the plane that was shot down didn’t intrude on Turkish airspace.

Advertisement

However, concerning Russia’s demand for an apology, Davutoglu said that Turkey could not be asked to apologize for doing its duty to protect its border and airspace.

Hours earlier, Turkey sent back to Russian Federation the body of a pilot killed when his plane was shot down by the Turkish air force on November 24 for allegedly violating its air space on the Syrian border, reports said.

Davutoglu criticized the decision to impose economic sanctions on Turkey, recalling that when Western powers sanctioned Russian Federation over the Ukraine crisis, the Kremlin had strongly criticized the move.

Ankara is ready to talk with Moscow to prevent similar incidents in the future, the prime minister added.

“We also made very clear that the Turkish-Syria border is a national security issue for Turkey”.

Putin rejected Recep Erdogan’s efforts to arrange a meeting between the two leaders on Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations climate summit in Paris.

He did not say how the body was delivered to Hatay in southern Turkey but said Russia’s military attache was going there on Sunday as part of procedures to recover the remains.

The Russian air force said Monday that its Su-34 fighter bombers in Syria were now armed with air-to-air missiles for defense.

Defence official Igor Klimov said the missiles were capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 37 miles (60km).

In Syria, Russia is supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation want rebel groups.

Erdoğan, who calls claims that Turkey buys oil from ISIL “slander”, on Monday called on Putin to prove his claims.

Advertisement

Douglas Lute, the U.S. ambassador to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, said he saw American data which “corroborates Turkey’s version of events”. Russian tourism companies have been banned from selling vacation packages to Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday Nov. 30 2015. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with the Turkish prime minister on Monday to discuss the issue of a Russian warp