Man held in Turkey over Russian pilot death

By Euronews

Published on 31/03/2016 - 23:25

Turkish authorities have reportedly detained a man suspected of killing a Russian pilot after his plane was shot down by a Turkish jet near the

Turkish authorities have reportedly detained a man suspected of killing a Russian pilot after his plane was shot down by a Turkish jet near the Syrian-Turkish border in November.

Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper, which named the man as Alparslan Çelik, said he was arrested in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir in a group of 14 people, all of whom were detained.

Moscow said at the time that the pilot had managed to eject from the plane only to be killed by ground fire from militants. His navigator survived but a Russian marine was killed during the rescue mission.

The incident sparked a diplomatic row between Russia and NATO member Turkey, with Moscow imposing a raft of economic sanctions on Ankara in retaliation.

Turkey says it shot down the Russian jet in its air space after it ignored repeated warnings. Russia says it was flying over Syria and was struck unprovoked.