Body of downed jet pilot flown from Ankara to Moscow: Turkey
The body of a Russian pilot who was killed after his plane was downed by Turkey in Syria has been sent to Moscow from Ankara, the Turkish military says.
The repatriation came after a military funeral service attended by the Russian ambassador, the army said in a statement on Monday.
The Turkish prime minister had earlier said that the body would be handed over to Russian officials.
“The pilot who lost his life during the air violation was received by us on the (Syrian) border last night,” said Ahmet Davutoglu, referring to the alleged violation of Turkish airspace by the Russian jet.
The pilot, identified as Lt. Col. Oleg Peshkov, parachuted out of the plane in Syria, but was murdered by militants – some of them associated with Turkey – inside the country. The second pilot was found safe in the area.
Peshkov’s body was flown to Ankara from southern Turkey on Sunday. A Turkish honor guard carried the coffin onto an air force plane for the flight to Ankara.
Davutoglu said a Russian official would travel “soon” to the southern Hatay region with a Turkish military official to receive the pilot’s body.
“In accordance with their (Russian) religious tradition, funeral arrangements were carried out by Orthodox priests in Hatay,” he added.
On Tuesday, NATO member Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer jet in Syria, claiming the aircraft had repeatedly violated its air space. Russia denied any such violation. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of “serious consequences” and called the downing of the plane a “stab in the back” administered by “the accomplices of terrorists.”
Russia has been conducting airstrikes on Daesh positions in Syria at the request of the Syrian government since September 30.
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