Turkey to Hand Over Body of Pilot of Downed Su-24 to Russia

World | November 29, 2015, Sunday // 14:05
Bulgaria: Turkey to Hand Over Body of Pilot of Downed Su-24 to Russia Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. File photo EPA/BGNES

Turkey will hand over the body of the pilot of the downed Su-24 warplane to Russia.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stated on Sunday that the body had been brought from Syria to the border with Turkey last night.

Davutoglu said this at a press briefing at the airport in Ankara prior to his departure for Brussels, where he will attend the EU-Turkey summit on the ongoing migration crisis.

The Turkish prime minister assured that the body of the pilot would be prepared in accordance with Orthodox tradition before being handed over to Russia.

He added that a Russian official would soon travel to the southern region of Hatay on Sunday with a Turkish military official to take possession of the body.

The Russian embassy in Turkey informed that the body of Oleg Peskov would be transported by airplane on Sunday from Hatay in the presence of the Russian military attache to an aerodrome in Ankara where it would be met by the ambassador.

The exact date and time of the transportation of the body to Russia were still to be confirmed, Hurriyet Daily informs.

The Russian bomber was shot down by two Turkish F-16 fighter jets at the Turkish-Syrian border on Tuesday.

Both pilots had managed to eject themselves, but one of them was killed midair by gunfire from the ground, while the other was rescued and brought to a Russian airbase.

Ankara claims that the Russian aircraft had violated Turkish airspace and was warned ten times before being shot down.

Moscow maintains that the warplane stayed exclusively within Syrian airspace and no warnings were issued by Turkey.

The relations between Russia and Turkey have deteriorated since the incident, with Russian President Vladimir Putin going as far as signing a decree introducing a set of economic sanctions against Turkey.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

World » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: Russia, turkey, Syria, border, airspace, SU-24, F-16, Vladimir Putin, Ahmet Davutoglu, sanctions, pilot

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria