Russian Envoy: downed Su-24 pilot killed by Turkish citizen

Russia's Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov claimed the person who shot the Russian pilot on November 24 after he ejected himself from the downed Su-24 bomber and was trying to make a safe landing with a parachute was a Turkish citizen named Alparslan Çelik, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

“It is Alparslan Çelik who shot at our pilot. He went before the cameras and was making a statement, and then he showed a part of the parachute. He spoke Turkish easily,” claimed Karlov, adding that Çelik’s father was a former mayor, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

One of the two pilots of the downed Russian jet died after he ejected himself from the jet, while the other pilot was rescued with the efforts of Syrian government’s special forces unit and brought to a Russian base in Syria. 

The body of the dead pilot was handed over to the Russian military staff in Ankara, from where it was taken to Russia. Another pilot, who was looking for the pilots of the downed jet inside Syrian territory, was also killed. 

Karlov claimed a group of members of the press, who were “perhaps coincidentally where our [Russian] jet was shot with professional equipment,” had filmed the group who shot at the Russian pilot. He said the group opened fire with long-range weapons first, then filmed it, and then distributed photos of the incident. 

“Then it is easy to determine the head of the bandits, who made the announcement, that he is not a Syrian citizen but a Turkish citizen,” Karlov claimed.